*     JAN  25  1908 


Section 


.M.I45 


INTRODUCTION    TO    THE 
OLD    TESTAMENT 


PFORKS  BT  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

OLD    TESTAMENT    CRITICISM    AND    THE 

CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 
THE      MESSAGES     OF     THE     PROPHETIC 

AND    PRIESTLY    HISTORIANS 
THE    MESSAGES    OF    THE    PSALMISTS 
THE    DIVINE    PURSUIT 
THOUGHTS    FOR    SILENT    HOURS 


INTRODUCTION  TO   THE 
OLD    TESTAMENT 


By 

JOHN  EDGAR  McFADYEN,  M.A.  (Glas.) 
B.A.  (Oxon.) 

Professor  of  Old  Testament  Literature  and  Exegesis, 
Knox  College,  Toronto 


NEW  YORK 
A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON 

3  &  5  WEST  EIGHTEENTH  ST 

London  :    HODDER   AND   STOUGHTON 

1905 


Butler  and  Tanner,  The  Selwood  Printing  Works,  Frame,  and  London 


Co 

dfc2  pupils 

past  ano  present 


PREFACE 

This  Introduction  does  not  pretend  to  offer  anything 
to  specialists.  It  is  written  for  theological  students, 
ministers,  and  laymen,  who  desire  to  understand  the 
modern  attitude  to  the  Old  Testament  as  a  whole, 
but  who  either  do  not  have  the  time  or  the  inclina- 
tion to  follow  the  details  on  which  all  thorough 
study  of  it  must  ultimately  rest.  These  details  are 
intricate,  often  perplexing,  and  all  but  innumer- 
able, and  the  student  is  in  danger  of  failing  to  see  the 
wood  for  the  trees.  This  Introduction,  therefore, 
concentrates  attention  only  on  the  more  salient 
features  of  the  discussion.  No  attempt  has  been 
made,  for  example,  to  relegate  every  verse  in  the 
Pentateuch  1  to  its  documentary  source  ;  but  the 

1  Pentateuch  and  Hexateuch  are  used  in  this  volume  to 
indicate  the  first  five  and  the  first  six  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  respectively,  without  reference  to  any  critical 
theory.  As  the  first  five  books  form  a  natural  division 
by  themselves,  and  as  their  literary  sources  are  continued 
not  only  into  Joshua,  but  probably  beyond  it,  it  is  as 
egitimate  to  speak  of  the  Pentateuch  as  of  the  Hexateuch. 


viii  Preface 

method  of  attacking  the  Pentateuchal  problem  has 
been  presented,  and  the  larger  documentary  divi- 
sions indicated. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  discussions  can 
in  no  case  be  exhaustive  ;  such  treatment  can  only 
be  expected  in  commentaries  to  the  individual 
books.  While  carefully  considering  all  the  more 
important  alternatives,  I  have  usually  contented 
myself  with  presenting  the  conclusion  which  seemed 
to  me  most  probable ;  and  I  have  thought  it  better 
to  discuss  each  case  on  its  merits,  without  referring 
expressly  and  continually  to  the  opinions  of  Eng- 
lish and  foreign  scholars. 

In  order  to  bring  the  discussion  within  the  range 
of  those  who  have  no  special  linguistic  equipment, 
I  have  hardly  ever  cited  Greek  or  Hebrew  words, 
and  never  in  the  original  alphabets.  For  a  similar 
reason,  the  verses  are  numbered,  not  as  in  the 
Hebrew,  but  as  in  the  English  Bible.  I  have  sought 
to  make  the  discussion  read  continuously,  without 
distracting  the  attention — excepting  very  occa- 
sionally— by  foot-notes  or  other  devices. 

Above  all  things,  I  have  tried  to  be  interesting. 
Critical  discussions  are  too  apt  to  divert  those  who 


Preface 


IX 


pursue  them  from  the  absorbing  human  interest  of 
the  Old  Testament.  Its  writers  were  men  of  like 
hopes  and  fears  and  passions  with  ourselves,  and 
not  the  least  important  task  of  a  sympathetic 
scholarship  is  to  recover  that  humanity  which 
speaks  to  us  in  so  many  portions  and  so  many  ways 
from  the  pages  of  the  Old  Testament.  While  we 
must  never  allow  ourselves  to  forget  that  the  Old 
Testament  is  a  voice  from  the  ancient  and  the 
Semitic  world,  not  a  few  parts  of  it — books,  for 
example,  like  Job  and  Ecclesiastes — are  as  modern 
as  the  book  that  was  written  yesterday. 

But,  first  and  last,  the  Old  Testament  is  a  religious 
book  ;  and  an  Introduction  to  it  should,  in  my 
opinion,  introduce  us  not  only  to  its  literary 
problems,  but  to  its  religious  content.  I  have 
therefore  usually  attempted — briefly,  and  not  in 
any  homiletic  spirit — to  indicate  the  religious  value 
and  significance  of  its  several  books. 

There  may  be  readers  who  would  here  and  there 
have  desiderated  a  more  confident  tone,  but  I  have 
deliberately  refrained  from  going  further  than  the 
facts  seemed  to  warrant.  The  cause  of  truth  is  not 
served  by  unwarranted  assertions  ;  and  the  facts 


x  Preface 

are  often  so  difficult  to  concatenate  that  dogmatism 
becomes  an  impertinence.  Those  who  know  the 
ground  best  walk  the  most  warily.  But  if  the  old 
confidence  has  been  lost,  a  new  confidence  has  been 
won.  Traditional  opinions  on  questions  of  date 
and  authorship  may  have  been  shaken  or  over- 
turned, but  other  and  greater  things  abide  ;  and  not 
the  least  precious  is  that  confidence,  which  can  now 
justify  itself  at  the  bar  of  the  most  rigorous  scien- 
tific investigation,  that,  in  a  sense  altogether  unique, 
the  religion  of  Israel  is  touched  by  the  finger  of 
God. 


JOHN  E.  McFADYEN. 


Engelberg,  Switzerland, 
1905. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The  Order  of  the  Books             ...  i 

Genesis        ...... 

Exodus         ......  ,o 

Leviticus     .         .  __. 

Numbers 6 

Deuteronomy       .  k* 

46 

J°SHUA 62 

The  Prophetic  and  Priestly  Documents    .  .71 

Judges ?6 

Samuel  ......  g. 

KlNGS  •  94 

IsAIAH 107 

JEREMIAH 140 

EzEKIEL  •  •  •  •  •  .  .  .162 

HosEA .  .178 

J°EL    '  *  '  '  •  -  -  •     183 

Amos 188 

xi 


xii 

Content 

PAGE 

Obadiah 

193 

Jonah 

196 

Micah 

200 

Nahum 

206 

Habakkuk   . 

210 

Zephaniah   . 

216 

Haggai 

219 

Zechariah 

222 

Malachi 

234 

Psalms 

238 

Proverbs 

256 

Job      . 

.    264 

Song  of  Songs 

.    282 

Ruth 

290 

Lamentations 

•    294 

ECCLESIASTES 

.    298 

Esther 

.    310 

Daniel 

•    316 

Ezra-Nehemiah 

•    332 

Chronicles 

. 

•    347 

The  Order  of  the  Books 

In  the  English  Bible  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  arranged,  not  in  the  order  in  which  they 
appear  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  but  in  that  assigned 
to  them  by  the  Greek  translation.  In  this  trans- 
lation the  various  books  are  grouped  according  to 
their  contents — first  the  historical  books,  then  the 
poetic,  and  lastly  the  prophetic.  This  order  has 
its  advantages,  but  it  obscures  many  important 
facts  of  which  the  Hebrew  order  preserves  a  remin- 
iscence. The  Hebrew  Bible  has  also  three  divisions, 
known  respectively  as  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and 
the  Writings.  The  Law  stands  for  the  Pentateuch. 
The  Prophets  are  subdivided  into  (i)  the  former 
prophets,  that  is,  the  historical  books  of  Joshua, 
Judges,  Samuel  and  Kings,  regarded  as  four  in 
number  ;  and  (ii)  the  latter  prophets,  that  is,  the 
prophets  proper — Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and 
the  Twelve  (i.e.  the  Minor  Prophets).  The  Writings 
designate  all  the  rest  of  the  books,  usually  in  the 
following  order — Psalms,  Proverbs,  Job,  Song  of 
Songs.  Ruth,  Lamentations,  Ecclesiastes,  Esther, 
Daniel,  Ezra-Nehemiah,  Chronicles. 

It  would  somewhat  simplify  the  scientific  study 
even  of  the  English  Bible,  if  the  Hebrew  order 
could  be  restored,  for  it  is  in  many  ways  instruc- 


2      Old  Testament   Introduction 

tive  and  important.  It  reveals  the  unique  and 
separate  importance  of  the  Pentateuch ;  it  suggests 
that  the  historical  books  from  Joshua  to  Kings  are 
to  be  regarded  not  only  as  histories,  but  rather  as 
the  illustration  of  prophetic  principles  ;  it  raises 
a  high  probability  that  Ruth  ought  not  to  be  taken 
with  Judges,  nor  Lamentations  with  Jeremiah, 
nor  Daniel  with  the  prophets.  It  can  be  proved 
that  the  order  of  the  divisions  represents  the  order 
in  which  they  respectively  attained  canonical  im- 
portance— the  law  before  400  B.C.,  the  prophets 
about  200  B.C.,  the  writings  about  100  B.C. — and, 
generally  speaking,  the  latest  books  are  in  the 
last  division.  Thus  we  are  led  to  suspect  a  rela- 
tively late  origin  for  the  Song  and  Ecclesiastes,  and 
Chronicles,  being  late,  will  not  be  so  important  a 
historical  authority  as  Kings.  The  facts  suggested 
by  the  Hebrew  order  and  confirmed  by  a  study  of 
the  literature  are  sufficient  to  justify  the  adoption 
of  that  order  in  preference  to  that  of  the  English 
Bible. 


Genesis 

The  Old  Testament  opens  very  impressively.  In 
measured  and  dignified  language  it  introduces  the 
story  of  Israel's  origin  and  settlement  upon  the  land 
of  Canaan  (Gen. -Josh.)  by  the  story  of  creation, 
i.-ii.  40,  and  thus  suggests,  at  the  very  beginning, 
the  far-reaching  purpose  and  the  world-wide  signi- 
ficance of  the  people  and  religion  of  Israel.  The 
narrative  has  not  travelled  far  till  it  becomes 
apparent  that  its  dominant  interests  are  to  be  re- 
ligious and  moral ;  for,  after  a  pictorial  sketch  of 
man's  place  and  task  in  the  world,  and  of  his  need 
of  woman's  companionship,  ii.  46-25,  it  plunges  at 
once  into  an  account,  wonderful  alike  in  its  poetic 
power  and  its  psychological  insight,  of  the  tragic 
and  costly *  disobedience  by  which  the  divine 
purpose  for  man  was  at  least  temporarily  frustrated 
(hi.).  His  progress  in  history  is,  morally  considered, 
downward.  Disobedience  in  the  first  generation 
becomes  murder  in  the  next,  and  it  is  to  the  off- 
spring of  the  violent  Cain  that  the  arts  and  ameni- 
ties of  civilization  are  traced,  iv.  1-22.  Thus  the 
first  song  in  the  Old  Testament  is  a  song  of  revenge, 

1  Death  is  the  penalty  (iii.  22-24).  Another  explanation  of 
how  death  came  into  the  world  is  given  in  the  ancient  and 
interesting  fragment  vi»  1-4. 

3 


4      Old  Testament   Introduction 

iv.  23,  24,  though  this  dark  background  of  cruelty 
is  not  unlit  by  a  gleam  of  religion,  iv.  26.  After 
the  lapse  of  ten  generations  (v.)  the  world  had 
grown  so  corrupt  that  God  determined  to  destroy 
it  by  a  flood  ;  but  because  Noah  was  a  good  man, 
He  saved  him  and  his  household  and  resolved  never 
again  to  interrupt  the  course  of  nature  in  judg- 
ment (vi.-viii.).  In  establishing  the  covenant  with 
Noah,  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  sacredness  of  blood, 
especially  of  the  blood  of  man,  ix.  1-17.  Though 
grace  abounds,  however,  sin  also  abounds.  Noah 
fell,  and  his  fall  revealed  the  character  of  his  children: 
the  ancestor  of  the  Semites,  from  whom  the  Hebrews 
sprang,  is  blessed,  as  is  also  Japheth,  while  the 
ancestor  of  the  licentious  Canaanites  is  cursed, 
ix.  18-27.  From  these  three  are  descended  the 
great  families  of  mankind  (x.)  whose  unity  was 
confounded  and  whose  ambitions  were  destroyed 
by  the  creation  of  diverse  languages,  xi.  1-9. 

It  is  against  this  universal  background  that  the 
story  of  the  Hebrews  is  thrown  ;  and  in  the  new 
beginning  which  history  takes  with  the  call  of 
Abraham,  something  like  the  later  contrast  between 
the  church  and  the  world  is  intended  to  be  suggested. 
Upon  the  sombreness  of  human  history  as  reflected 
in  Gen.  i.-xi.,  a  new  possibility  breaks  in  Gen.  xii., 
and  the  rest  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  the  fathers 
of  the  Hebrew  people  (xii.-l.).  The  most  im- 
pressive figure  from  a  religious  point  of  view  is 
Abraham,  the  oldest  of  them  all,  and  the  story  of 
his  discipline  is  told  with  great  power,  xi.  10-xxv. 
10.  He  was  a  Semite,  xi.  10-32,  and  under  a  divine 
impulse  he  migrated  westward  to  Canaan,  xii.  1-9. 


Genesis  5 

There  various  fortunes  befell  him — famine  which 
drove  him  to  Egypt,  peril  through  the  beauty  of  his 
wife,1  abounding  and  conspicuous  prosperity — 
but  through  it  all  Abraham  displayed  a  true  magna- 
nimity and  enjoyed  the  divine  favour,  xii.  io-xiii., 
which  was  manifested  even  in  a  striking  military 
success  (xiv.).  Despite  this  favour,  however,  he 
grew  despondent,  as  he  had  no  child.  But  there 
came  to  him  the  promise  of  a  son,  confirmed  by  a 
covenant  (xv.),  the  symbol  of  which  was  to  be 
circumcision  (xvii.)  ;  and  Abraham  trusted  God, 
unlike  his  wife,  whose  faith  was  not  equal  to  the 
strain,  and  who  sought  the  fulfilment  of  the  pro- 
mise in  foolish  ways  of  her  own,2  xvi.,  xviii.  1-15. 
Then  follows  the  story  of  Abraham's  earnest  but 
ineffectual  intercession  for  the  wicked  cities  of  the 
plain — a  story  which  further  reminds  us  how  power- 
fully the  narrative  is  controlled  by  moral  and  re- 
ligious interests,  xviii.  16-xix.  Faith  is  rewarded 
at  last  by  the  birth  of  a  son,  xxi.  1-7,  and  Abraham's 
prosperity  becomes  so  conspicuous  that  a  native 
prince  is  eager  to  make  a  treaty  with  him,  xxi. 
22-34.  The  supreme  test  of  his  faith  came  to  him 
in  the  impulse  to  offer  his  son  to  God  in  sacrifice  ; 
but  at  the  critical  moment  a  substitute  was  provi- 
dentially provided,  and  Abraham's  faith,  which  had 
stood  so  terrible  a  test,  was  rewarded  by  another 
renewal  of  the  divine  assurance  (xxii.).  His  wife 
died,  and  for  a  burial-place  he  purchased  from  the 

1  This  story  (xii.   10-20)  is  duplicated  in  xx.  ;    also  in  xxvi. 
1-1 1  (of  Isaac). 

2  The  story  of  the  expulsion  of  Hagar  in  xvi.  is  duplicated  in 
xxi.  8-21. 


6      Old  Testament   Introduction 

natives  a  field  and  cave  in  Hebron,  thus  winning 
in  the  promised  land  ground  he  could  legally  call 
his  own  (xxiii.).  Among  his  eastern  kinsfolk  a  wife 
is  providentially  found  for  Isaac  (xxiv.),  who  becomes 
his  father's  heir,  xxv.  1-6.  Then  Abraham  dies, 
xxv.  7-1 1,  and  the  uneventful  career  of  Isaac  is 
briefly  described  in  tales  that  partly  duplicate * 
those  told  of  his  greater  father,  xxv.  7-xxvi. 

The  story  of  Isaac's  son  Jacob  is  as  varied  and 
romantic  as  his  own  was  uneventful.  He  begins 
by  fraudulently  winning  a  blessing  from  his  father, 
and  has  in  consequence  to  flee  the  promised  land, 
xxvii.-xxviii.  9.  On  the  threshold  of  his  new  ex- 
periences he  was  taught  in  a  dream  the  nearness 
of  heaven  to  earth,  and  received  the  assurance  that 
the  God  who  had  visited  him  at  Bethel  would  be 
with  him  in  the  strange  land  and  bring  him  back 
to  his  own,  xxviii.  10-22.  In  the  land  of  his  exile, 
his  fortunes  ran  a  very  checkered  course  (xxix.- 
xxxi.).  In  Laban,  his  Aramean  kinsman,  he  met 
his  match,  and  almost  his  master,  in  craft ;  and  the 
initial  fraud  of  his  life  was  more  than  once  punished 
in  kind.  In  due  time,  however,  he  left  the  land  of 
his  sojourn,  a  rich  and  prosperous  man.  But  his 
discipline  is  not  over  when  he  reaches  the  home- 
land. The  past  rises  up  before  him  in  the  person 
of  the  brother  whom  he  had  wronged  ;  and  besides 
reckoning  with  Esau,  he  has  also  to  wrestle  with 
God.  He  is  embroiled  in  strife  with  the  natives  of 
the  land,  and  he  loses  his  beloved  Rachel  (xxxii- 
xxxv.). 

Into  the  later  years  of  Jacob  is  woven  the  most 

1  xxvi.  i-n=xii.  10-20  (xx.)  j    xxvi.  26-33=xxi.  22-34 


Genesis  7 

romantic  story  of  all — that  of  his  son  Joseph  (xxxvii.- 
I.)1  the  dreamer,  who  rose  through  persecution  and 
prison,  slander  and  sorrow  (xxxvii.-xl.)  to  a  seat 
beside  the  throne  of  Pharaoh  (xli.).  Nowhere  is  the 
providence  that  governs  life  and  the  Nemesis  that 
waits  upon  sin  more  dramatically  illustrated  than 
in  the  story  of  Joseph.  Again  and  again  his  guilty 
brothers  are  compelled  to  confront  the  past  which 
they  imagined  they  had  buried  out  of  sight  for  ever 
(xlii.-xliv.).  But  at  last  comes  the  gracious  re- 
conciliation between  Joseph  and  them  (xlv.),  the 
tender  meeting  between  Jacob  and  Joseph  (xlvi.), 
the  ultimate  settlement  of  the  family  of  Jacob  in 
Egypt,2  and  the  consequent  transference  of  interest 
to  that  country  for  several  generations.  The  book 
closes  with  scenes  illustrating  the  wisdom  and 
authority  of  Joseph  in  the  time  of  famine  (xlvii.), 
the  dying  Jacob  blessing  Joseph's  sons  (xlviii.),  his 
parting  words  (in  verse)  to  all  his  sons  (xlix.),  his 
death  and  funeral  honours,  1.  1-14,  Joseph's 
magnanimous  forgiveness  of  his  brothers,  and  his 
death,  in  the  sure  hope  that  God  would  one  day 
bring  the  Israelites  back  again  to  the  land  of  Canaan, 
1.  15-26. 

The  unity  of  the  book  of  Genesis  is  unmistakable  ; 
yet  a  close  inspection  reveals  it  to  be  rather  a  unity 
of  idea  than  of  execution.  While  in  general  it  ex- 
hibits the  gradual  progress  of  the  divine  purpose  on 
its  way  through  primeval  and  patriarchal  history, 

1  xxxvi.  deals  with  the  Edomite  clans,  and  xxxviii.  with  th? 
clans  of  Judah. 

2  In  one  version  they  are  not  exactly  in  Egypt,  but  near  it,  in 
Goshen  (xlvii.  6). 


8      Old  Testament   Introduction 

in  detail  it  presents  a  number  of  phenomena  incom- 
patible with  unity  of  authorship.  The  theological 
presuppositions  of  different  parts  of  the  book  vary 
widely  ;  centuries  of  religious  thought,  for  example, 
must  lie  between  the  God  who  partakes  of  the  hospi- 
tality of  Abraham  under  a  tree  (xviii.)  and  the 
majestic,  transcendent,  invisible  Being  at  whose 
word  the  worlds  are  born  (i.).  The  style,  too, 
differs  as  the  theological  conceptions  do  :  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  feel  the  difference  between  the 
diffuse,  precise,  and  formal  style  of  ix.  1-17,  and  the 
terse,  pictorial  and  poetic  manner  of  the  immediately 
succeeding  section,  ix.  18-27.  Further,  different 
accounts  are  given  of  the  origin  of  particular  names 
or  facts  :  Beersheba  is  connected,  e.g.  with  a  treaty 
made,  in  one  case,  between  Abraham  and  Abimelech, 
xxi.  31,  in  another,  between  Isaac  and  Abimelech, 
xxvi.  33.  But  perhaps  the  most  convincing  proof 
that  the  book  is  not  an  original  literary  unit  is  the 
lack  of  inherent  continuity  in  the  narrative  of 
special  incidents,  and  the  occasional  inconsistencies, 
sometimes  between  different  parts  of  the  book, 
sometimes  even  within  the  same  section. 

This  can  be  most  simply  illustrated  from  the 
story  of  the  Flood  (vi.  5ff.),  through  which  the 
beginner  should  work  for  himself — at  first  without 
suggestions  from  critical  commentaries  or  intro- 
ductions— as  here  the  analysis  is  easy  and  singularly 
free  from  complications  ;  the  results  reached  upon 
this  area  can  be  applied  and  extended  to  the  rest 
of  the  book.  The  problem  might  be  attacked  in 
some  such  way  as  follows.  Ch.  vi.  5-8  announces 
the  wickedness  of  man  and  the  purpose  of  God  to  des- 


Genesis  g 

troy  him  ;  throughout  these  verses  the  divine  Being 
is  called  Jehovah.1  In  the  next  section,  vv.  9-13, 
He  is  called  by  a  different  name — God  (Hebrew, 
Elohim) — and  we  cannot  but  notice  that  this  sec- 
tion adds  nothing  to  the  last ;  vv.  9, 10  are  an  inter- 
ruption, and  vv.  n-13  but  a  repetition  of  vv.  5-8. 
Corresponding  to  the  change  in  the  divine  name  is 
a  further  change  in  the  vocabulary,  the  word  for 
destroy  being  different  in  vv.  7  and  13.  Verses 
14-22  continue  the  previous  section  with  precise 
and  minute  instructions  for  the  building  of  the  ark, 
and  in  the  later  verses  (cf .  18,  20)  the  precision  tends 
to  become  diffuseness.  The  last  verse  speaks  of  the 
divine  Being  as  God  (Elohim),  so  that  both  the 
language,  and  contents  of  vv.  9-22  show  it  to  be  a 
homogeneous  section.  Note  that  here,  vv.  19,  20, 
two  animals  of  every  kind  are  to  be  taken  into  the 
ark,  no  distinction  being  drawn  between  the  clean 
and  the  unclean.  Noah  must  now  be  in  the  ark  ; 
for  we  are  told  that  he  had  done  all  that  God  com- 
manded him,  vv.  22,  18. 

But,  to  our  surprise,  ch.  vii.  starts  the  whole  story 
afresh  with  a  divine  command  to  Noah  to  enter  the 
ark  ;  and  this  time,  significantly  enough,  a  distinc- 
tion is  made  between  the  clean  and  the  unclean — 
seven  pairs  of  the  former  to  enter  and  one  pair  of 
the  latter  (vii.  2).  It  is  surely  no  accident  that 
in  this  section  the  name  of  the  divine  Being  is 
Jehovah,  vv.i,  5  ;  and  its  contents  follow  naturally 

1  Wrongly  represented  by  the  Lord  in  the  English  version  ; 
the  American  Revised  Version  always  correctly  renders  by 
Jehovah.  God  in  v.  5  is  an  unfortunate  mistake  of  A.  V.  This 
ought  also  to  be  the  Lord,  or  rather  Jehovah. 


io   Old   Testament  Introduction 

on  vi.  5-8.  In  other  words  we  have  here,  not  a  con- 
tinuous account,  but  two  parallel  accounts,  one  of 
which  uses  the  name  God,  the  other  Jehovah,  for 
the  divine  Being.  This  important  conclusion  is 
put  practically  beyond  all  doubt  by  the  similarity 
between  vi.  22  and  vii.  5,  which  differ  only  in  the 
use  of  the  divine  name.  A  close  study  of  the 
characteristics  of  these  sections  whose  origin  is  thus 
certain  will  enable  us  approximately  to  relegate  to 
their  respective  sources  other  sections,  verses,  or 
fragments  of  verses  in  which  the  important  clue, 
furnished  by  the  name  of  the  divine  Being,  is  not 
present.  Any  verse,  or  group  of  verses,  e.g.  in- 
volving the  distinction  between  the  clean  and  the 
unclean,  will  belong  to  the  Jehovistic  source,  as  it  is 
called  (J).  This  is  the  real  explanation  of  the  con- 
fusion which  every  one  feels  who  attempts  to  under- 
stand the  story  as  a  unity.  It  was  always  particu- 
larly hard  to  reconcile  the  apparently  conflicting 
estimates  of  the  duration  of  the  Flood  ;  but  as  soon 
as  the  sources  are  separated,  it  becomes  clear  that, 
according  to  the  Jehovist,  it  lasted  sixty-eight  days, 
according  to  the  other  source  over  a  year  (vii.  n, 
viii.  14). 

Brief  as  the  Flood  story  is,  it  furnishes  us  with 
material  enough  to  study  the  characteristic  differ- 
ences between  the  sources  out  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed. The  Jehovist  is  terse,  graphic,  and  poetic  ; 
it  is  this  source  in  which  occurs  the  fine  description 
of  the  sending  forth  of  the  raven  and  the  dove,  viii. 
6-12.  It  knows  how  to  make  a  singularly  effective 
use  of  concrete  details  :  witness  Noah  putting  out 
his  hand  and  pulling  the  dove  into  the  ark,  and  her 


Genesis  1 1 

final  return  with  an  olive  leaf  in  her  mouth.  A 
similarly  graphic  touch,  interesting  also  for  the 
sidelight  it  throws  on  the  Jehovist's  theological 
conceptions  is  that,  when  Noah  entered  the  ark, 
"  Jehovah  closed  the  door  behind  him,"  vii.  16. 
Altogether  different  is  the  other  source.  It  is  all 
but  lacking  in  poetic  touches  and  concrete  detail  of 
this  kind,  and  such  an  anthropomorphism  as  vii.  16 
would  be  to  it  impossible.  It  is  pedantically 
precise,  giving  the  exact  year,  month,  and  even  day 
when  the  Flood  came,  vii.  n,  and  when  it  ceased, 
viii.  13,  14.  There  is  a  certain  legal  precision  about 
it  which  issues  in  diffuseness  and  repetition  ;  over 
and  over  again  occur  such  phrases  as  "  fowl,  cattle, 
creeping  things,  each  after  its  kind,"  vi.  20,  vii.  14, 
and  the  dimensions  of  the  ark  are  accurately  given. 
Where  J  had  simply  said,  "  Thou  and  all  thy  house," 
vii.  1,  this  source  says,  "  Thou  and  thy  sons  and 
thy  wife  and  thy  sons'  wives  with  thee,"  vi.  18. 
From  the  identity  of  interest  and  style  between  this 
source  and  the  middle  part  of  the  Pentateuch, 
notably  Leviticus,  it  is  characterized  as  the  priestly 
document  and  known  to  criticism  as  P. 

Thus,  though  the  mainstay  of  the  analysis,  or  at 
least  the  original  point  of  departure,  is  the  differ- 
ence in  the  names  of  the  divine  Being,  many  other 
phenomena,  of  vocabulary,  style,  and  theology,  are  so 
distinctive  that  on  the  basis  of  them  alone  we  could 
relegate  many  sections  of  Genesis  with  considerable 
confidence  to  their  respective  sources.  In  particular, 
P  is  especially  easy  to  detect.  For  example,  the 
use  of  the  term  Elohim,  the  repetitions,  the  precise 
and  formal  manner,  the  collocation  of  such  phrases 


12    Old   Testament   Introduction 

as  "  fowl,  cattle,  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
the  earth,"  i.  26  (cf.  vii.  21),  mark  out  the  first  story 
of  creation,  i.-ii.  4a,  as  indubitably  belonging  to  P. 
Besides  the  stories  of  the  creation  and  the  flood,  the 
longest  and  most  important,  though  not  quite  the 
only  passages  l  belonging  to  P  are  ix.  1-17  (the 
covenant  with  Noah),  xvii.  (the  covenant  with 
Abraham),  and  xxiii.  (the  purchase  of  a  burial  place 
for  Sarah).  This  is  a  fact  of  the  greatest  signi- 
ficance. For  P,  the  story  of  creation  culminates  in 
the  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  the  story  of  the  flood 
in  the  covenant  with  Noah,  with  the  law  concerning 
the  sacredness  of  blood,  the  covenant  with  Abraham 
is  sealed  by  circumcision,  and  the  purchase  of 
Machpelah  gives  Abraham  legal  right  to  a  footing 
in  the  promised  land.  In  other  words  the  interests 
of  this  source  are  legal  and  ritual.  This  becomes 
abundantly  plain  in  the  next  three  books  of  the 
Pentateuch,  but  even  in  Genesis  it  may  be  justly 
inferred  from  the  unusual  fulness  of  the  narrative 
at  these  four  points. 

When  we  examine  what  is  left  in  Genesis,  after 
deducting  the  sections  that  belong  to  P,  we  find  that 
the  word  God  (Elohim),  characteristic  of  P,  is  still 
very  frequently  and  in  some  sections  exclusively 
used.  The  explanation  will  appear  when  we  come 
to  deal  with  Exodus  :  meantime  the  fact  must  be 
carefully  noted.     Ch.  xx.,  e.g.,  uses  the  word  Elohim, 

1  The  curious  ch.  xiv.  is  written  under  the  influence  of  P. 
Here  also  ritual  interests  play  a  part  in  the  tithes  paid  to  the  priest 
of  Salem,  v.  20  (i.e.  Jerusalem).  In  spite  of  its  array  of  ancient 
names,  xiv.  1,2,  which  have  been  partially  corroborated  by  recent 
discoveries,  this  chapter  is,  for  several  reasons,  believed  to  be 
one  of  the  latest  in  the  Pentateuch. 


Genesis 


13 


but  it  has  no  other  mark  characteristic  of  P.  It  is 
neither  formal  nor  diffuse  in  style  nor  legal  in  spirit ; 
it  is  as  concrete  and  almost  as  graphic  as  anything 
in  J.  Indeed  the  story  related — Abraham's  denial 
of  his  wife — is  actually  told  in  that  document, 
xii.  10-20  (also  of  Isaac,  xxvi.  i-n)  ;  and  in  general 
the  history  is  covered  by  this  document,  which  is 
called  the  Elohist *  and  known  to  criticism  as  E,  in 
much  the  same  spirit,  and  with  an  emphasis  upon 
much  the  same  details,  as  by  J.  In  opposition  to 
P,  these  are  known  as  the  prophetic  documents, 
because  they  were  written  or  at  least  put  together 
under  the  influence  of  prophetic  ideas.  The  close 
affinity  of  these  two  documents  renders  it  much 
more  difficult  to  distinguish  them  from  each  other 
than  to  distinguish  either  of  them  from  P,  but  with- 
in certain  limits  the  attempt  may  be  successfully 
made.  The  basis  of  it  must,  of  course,  be  a  study 
of  the  duplicate  versions  of  the  same  incidents  ; 
that  is,  such  a  narrative  as  ch.  xx.,  which  uses  the 
word  God  (Elohim)  is  compared  with  its  parallel  in 
xii.  10-20,  which  uses  the  word  Jehovah,  and  in  this 
way  the  distinctive  features  and  interests  of  each 
document  will  most  readily  be  found.  The  parallel 
suggested  is  easy  and  instructive,  and  it  reveals  the 
relative  ethical  and  theological  superiority  of  E  to 
J.  J  tells  the  story  of  Abraham's  falsehood  with 
a  quaint  naivete  (xii.)  ;  E  is  offended  by  it  and 
excuses  it  (xx.).  The  theological  refinement  of  E  is 
suggested  not  only  here,  xx.  3,  6,  but  elsewhere,  by 
the  frequency  with  which  God  appears  in  dreams 

1  In  this  way  it  is  distinguished  from  P,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  also  Elohistic,  but  is  not  now  so  called. 


14   Old  Testament  Introduction 

and  not  in  bodily  presence  as  in  J  (cf.  iii.  8).  Simi- 
larly the  expulsion  of  Hagar,  which  in  J  is  due  to 
Sarah's  jealousy  (xvi.),  in  E.  is  attributed  to  a  com- 
mand of  God,  xxi.  8-21  ;  and  the  success  of  Jacob 
with  the  sheep,  which  in  J  is  due  to  his  skill  and 
cunning,  xxx.  29-43,  is  referred  in  E  to  the  inter- 
vention of  God,  xxxi.  5-12.  In  general  it  may  be 
said  that  J,  while  religious,  is  also  natural,  whereas 
E  tends  to  emphasize  the  supernatural,  and  thus 
takes  the  first  step  towards  the  austere  theology 
of  P.1 

J  is  the  most  picturesque  and  fascinating  of  all 
the  sources — attractive  alike  for  its  fine  poetic 
power  and  its  profound  religious  insight.  This  is 
the  source  which  describes  the  wooing  of  Isaac's 
bride  (xxiv.),  and  the  meeting  of  Jacob  and  Rachel 
at  the  well,  xxix.  2-14  ;  in  this  source,  too,  which 
appears  to  be  the  most  primitive  of  all,  there  are 
speaking  animals — the  serpent,  e.g.,  in  Genesis  iii. 
(and  the  ass  in  Num.  xxii.  28).  The  story  of  the 
origin  of  sin,  in  every  respect  a  masterpiece,  is  told  by 
J  ;  we  do  not  know  whether  to  admire  more  the 
ease  with  which  Jehovah,  like  a  skilful  judge,  by  a 
few  penetrating  questions  drives  the  guilty  pair  to 
an  involuntary  confession,  or  the  fidelity  with  which 


1  A  detailed  justification  of  the  grounds  of  the  critical  analysis 
will  be  found  in  Professor  Driver's  elaborate  and  admirable 
Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament,  where  every 
section  throughout  the  Hexateuch  is  referred  to  its  special 
documentary  source.  To  readers  who  desire  to  master  the  detail, 
that  work  or  one  of  the  following  will  be  indispensable  :  The 
Hexateuch,  edited  by  Carpenter  and  Battersby,  Addis's  Docu- 
ments of  the  Hexateuch,  Bacon's  Genesis  of  Genesis  and  Triple 
Tradition  of  the  Exodus,  or  Kent's  Student's  Old  Testament  (vol.  i.) 


Genesis  t  5 

the  whole  immortal  scene  reflects  the  eternal  facts 
of  human  nature.  The  religious  teaching  of  J  is 
extraordinarily  powerful  and  impressive,  all  the 
more  that  it  is  never  directly  didactic  ;  it  shines 
through  the  simple  and  unstudied  recital  of  con- 
crete incident. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  delicate  and  not  the  least  im- 
portant tasks  of  criticism  to  discover  by  analysis 
even  the  sources  which  lie  so  close  to  each  other  as 
J  and  E,  for  the  literary  efforts  represented  by 
these  documents  are  but  the  reflection  of  religious 
movements.  They  testify  to  the  affection  which 
the  people  cherished  for  the  story  of  their  past ;  and 
when  we  have  arranged  them  in  chronological  order, 
they  enable  us  further,  as  we  have  seen,  to  trace  the 
progress  of  moral  and  religious  ideas.  But,  for 
several  reasons,  it  is  not  unfair,  and,  from  the  be- 
ginner's point  of  view,  it  is  perhaps  even  advisable, 
to  treat  these  documents  together  as  a  unity  : 
firstly,  because  they  were  actually  combined,  pro- 
bably in  the  seventh  century,  into  a  unity  (JE), 
and  sometimes,  as  in  the  Joseph  story,  so  skilfully 
that  it  is  very  difficult  to  distinguish  the  component 
parts  and  assign  them  to  their  proper  documentary 
source  ;  secondly,  because,  for  a  reason  to  be  after- 
wards stated,  beyond  Ex.  iii.  the  analysis  is  usually 
supremely  difficult  ;  and,  lastly,  because  in  language 
and  spirit,  the  prophetic  documents  are  very  like 
each  other  and  altogether  unlike  the  priestly  docu- 
ment. For  practical  purposes,  then,  the  broad 
distinction  into  prophetic  and  priestly  will  generally 
be  sufficient.  Wherever  the  narrative  is  graphic, 
powerful,  and  interesting,  we  may  be  sure  that  it  is 


1 6   Old  Testament   Introduction 

prophetic,1  whereas  the  priestly  document  is  easily 
recognizable  by  its  ritual  interests,  and  by  its 
formal,  diffuse,  and  legal  style. 

The  documents  already  discussed  constitute  the 
chief  sources  of  the  book  of  Genesis  ;  but  there  are 
occasional  fragments  which  do  not  seem  originally 
to  have  belonged  to  any  of  them.  There  were  also 
collections  of  poetry,  such  as  the  Book  of  Jashar 
(cf.  Josh.  x.  13  ;  2  Sam.  i.  18),  at  the  disposal  of 
those  who  wrote  or  compiled  the  documents,  and  to 
such  a  collection  the  parting  words  of  Jacob  may 
have  belonged  (xlix.).  The  poem  is  in  reality  a 
characterization  of  the  various  tribes  \v.  15,  and  still 
more  plainly  vv.  23,  24,  look  back  upon  historical 
events.  The  reference  to  Levi,  vv.  5-7,  which  takes 
no  account  of  the  priestly  prerogatives  of  that  tribe, 
shows  that  the  poem  is  early  (cf.  xxxiv.  25)  ;  but 
the  description  of  the  prosperity  of  Joseph  (i.e. 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh),  vv.  22-26,  and  the  pre- 
eminence of  Judah,  vv.  8-12,  bring  it  far  below 
patriarchal  times — at  least  into  the  period  of  the 
Judges.  If  vv.  8-12  is  an  allusion  to  the  triumphs 
of  David  and  vv.  22-26  to  northern  Israel,  the  poem 
as  a  whole,  which  can  hardly  be  later  than  Solo- 
mon's time — for  it  celebrates  Israel  and  Judah 
equally — could  not  be  earlier  than  David's  ;  but 

1  If  inconsistencies,  contradictions  or  duplicates  appear  in  the 
section  which  is  clearly  prophetic,  the  student  may  be  prac- 
tically certain  that  these  are  to  be  referred  to  the  two  prophetic 
sources.  Cf.  the  two  derivations  of  the  name  of  Joseph  in  con- 
secutive verses  whose  source  is  at  once  obvious  :  "God  (Elohim) 
has  taken  away  my  reproach"  (E)  ;  and  "Jehovah  adds  to  me 
another  son  "  (J),  Gen.  xxx.  23,  24.  Cf.  also  the  illustrations  ad- 
duced on  pp.  13,  14. 


Genesis  1 7 

probably    the    various   utterances    concerning    the 
different  tribes  arose  at  different  times. 

The  religious  interest  of  Genesis  is  very  high, 
the  more  so  as  almost  every  stage  of  religious  re- 
flection is  represented  in  it,  from  the  most  primitive 
to  the  most  mature.  Through  the  ancient  stories 
there  gleam  now  and  then  flashes  from  a  mytholo- 
gical background,  as  in  the  intermarriage  of  angels 
with  mortal  women,  vi.  1-4,  or  in  the  struggle  of 
the  mighty  Jacob,  who  could  roll  away  the  great 
stone  from  the  mouth  of  the  well,  xxix.  2,  10,  with 
his  supernatural  visitant,  xxxii.  24.  It  is  a  long 
step  from  the  second  creation  story  in  which  God, 
like  a  potter,  fashions  men  out  of  moist  earth,  ii.  7, 
and  walks  in  the  garden  of  Paradise  in  the  cool  of 
the  day,  hi.  8,  to  the  first,  with  its  sublime  silence 
on  the  mysterious  processes  of  creation  (i.).  But 
the  whole  book,  and  especially  the  prophetic  sec- 
tion, is  dominated  by  a  splendid  sense  of  the  reality 
of  God,  His  interest  in  men,  His  horror  of  sin,  His 
purpose  to  redeem.  Broadly  speaking,  the  religion 
of  the  book  stands  upon  a  marvellously  high  moral 
level.  It  is  touched  with  humility— its  heroes 
know  that  they  are  "  not  worth  of  all  the  love  and 
the  faithfulness  "  which  God  shows  them,  xxxii.  10  ; 
and  it  is  marked  by  a  true  inwardness — for  it  is  not 
works  but  implicit  trust  in  God  that  counts  for 
righteousness,  xv.  16.  Yet  in  practical  ways,  too, 
this  religion  finds  expression  in  national  and  in- 
dividual life  ;  it  protests  vehemently  against  human 
sacrifice  (xxii.),  and  it  strengthens  a  lonely  youth  in 
an  hour  of  terrible  temptation,  xxxix.  9. 


Exodus 

The  book  of  Exodus — so  named  in  the  Greek  version 
from  the  march  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt — opens  upon 
a  scene  of  oppression  very  different  from  the  pros- 
perity and  triumph  in  which  Genesis  had  closed. 
Israel  is  being  cruelly  crushed  by  the  new  dynasty 
which  has  arisen  in  Egypt  (i.)  and  the  story  of  the 
book  is  the  story  of  her  redemption.  Ultimately  it 
is  Israel's  God  that  is  her  redeemer,  but  He  operates 
largely  by  human  means  ;  and  the  first  step  is  the 
preparation  of  a  deliverer,  Moses,  whose  parentage, 
early  training,  and  fearless  love  of  justice  mark  him 
out  as  the  coming  man  (ii.).  In  the  solitude  and 
depression  of  the  desert,  he  is  encouraged  by  the 
sight  of  a  bush,  burning  yet  unconsumed,  and  sent 
forth  with  a  new  vision  of  God  *  upon  his  great  and 
perilous  task  (hi.).  Though  thus  divinely  equipped, 
he  hesitated,  and  God  gave  him  a  helper  in  Aaron 
his  brother  (iv.).  Then  begins  the  Titanic  struggle 
between  Moses  and  Pharaoh — Moses  the  champion 
of  justice,  Pharaoh  the  incarnation  of  might  (v.). 
Blow  after  blow  falls  from  Israel's  God  upon  the 
obstinate  king  of  Egypt  and  his  unhappy  land  : 
the  water  of  the  Nile  is  turned  into  blood  (vii.), 

1  The  story  of  the  revelation  of  Israel's  God  under  His  new 
name,  Jehovah,  is  told  twice  (in  ch.  hi.  and  ch.  vi.). 

13 


Exodus  i 9 


there  are  plagues  of  frogs,  gnats,  gadflies  (viii.), 
murrain,  boils,  hail  (ix.),  locusts,  darkness  (x.),  and 
— last  and  most  terrible  of  all — the  smiting  of  the 
first-born,  an  event  in  connexion  with  which  the 
passover  was  instituted.  Then  Pharaoh  yielded. 
Israel  went  forth  ;  and  the  festival  of  unleavened 
bread  was  ordained  for  a  perpetual  memorial  (xi., 
xii.) ;  also  the  first-born  of  man  and  beast  was  con- 
secrated, xiii.  1-16. 

Israel's  troubles,  however,  were  not  yet  over. 
Their  departing  host  was  pursued  by  the  impenitent 
Pharaoh,  but  miraculously  delivered  at  the  Red  Sea, 
in  which  the  Egyptian  horses  and  horsemen  were 
overwhelmed,  xiii.  17-xiv.  The  deliverance  was 
celebrated  in  a  splendid  song  of  triumph,  xv.  1-2 1. 
Then  they  began  their  journey  to  Sinai — a  journey 
which  revealed  alike  the  faithlessness  and  discontent 
of  their  hearts,  and  the  omnipotent  and  patient 
bounty  of  their  God,  manifested  in  delivering  them 
from  the  perils  of  hunger,  thirst  and  war,  xv.  22-xvii. 
16.  On  the  advice  of  Jethro,  Moses'  father-in-law, 
God-fearing  men  were  appointed  to  decide  for  the 
people  on  all  matters  of  lesser  moment,  while  the 
graver  cases  were  still  reserved  for  Moses  (xviii.)1 
The  arrival  at  Sinai  marked  a  crisis  ;  for  it  was 
there  that  the  epoch-making  covenant  was  made 
— Jehovah  promising  to  continue  His  grace  to  the 
people,  and  they,  on  their  part,  pledging  themselves 
to   obedience.     Thunder   and   lightning   and   dark 

1  This  chapter  is  apparently  misplaced.  In  Deut.  i.  9-18 
the  incident  is  set  just  before  the  departure  from  Sinai  (cf.  i. 
19).  It  may  therefore  originally  have  stood  after  Ex.  xxxiv.  9  or 
before  Num.  x.  29. 


20   Old  Testament  Introduction 

storm-clouds  accompanied  the  proclamation  of  the 
ten  commandments,1  which  represented  the  claims 
made  by  Jehovah  upon  the  people  whom  He  had 
redeemed,  xix.-xx.  22.  Connected  with  these  claims 
are  certain  statutes,  partly  of  a  religious  but  much 
more  of  a  civil  nature,  which  Moses  is  enjoined  to 
lay  upon  the  people,  and  obedience  to  which  is  to 
be  rewarded  by  prosperity  and  a  safe  arrival  at  the 
promised  land,  xx.  23-xxiii.  33.  This  section  is 
known  as  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  xxiv.  7.  The 
people  unitedly  promised  implicit  obedience  to  the 
terms  of  this  covenant,  which  was  then  sealed  with 
the  blood  of  sacrifice.  After  six  days  of  prepara- 
tion, Moses  ascended  the  mountain  in  obedience  to 
the  voice  of  Jehovah  (xxiv.). 

At  this  point  the  story  takes  on  a  distinctly 
priestly  complexion,  and  interest  is  transferred  from 
the  fortunes  of  the  people  to  the  construction  of  the 
sanctuary,  for  which  the  most  minute  directions  are 
given  (xxv.-xxxi.),  concerning  the  tabernacle  with 
all  its  furniture,  the  ark,  the  table  for  the  shew- 
bread,  the  golden  candlestick  (xxv.),  the  four-fold 
covering  for  the  tabernacle,  the  wood-work,  the 
veil  between  the  holy  and  the  most  holy  place,  the 
curtain  for  the  door  (xxvi.),  the  altar,  the  court 
round  about  the  tabernacle,  the  oil  for  the  light 
(xxvii.),  the  sacred  vestments  for  the  high  priest 
and  the  other  priests  (xxviii.),  the  manner  of  con- 
secration of  the  priests,  the  priestly  dues,  the  atone- 
ment for  the  altar,  the  morning  and  evening  offering 

1  Or  rather,  the  ten  words.  In  another  source,  the  commands 
are  given  differently,  and  are  ritual  rather  than  moral,  xxxiv. 
10-28  (J). 


Exodus  21 

(xxix.),  the  altar  of  incense,  the  poll-tax,  the  laver, 
the  holy  oil,  the  incense  (xxx.),  the  names  and 
divine  equipment  of  the  overseers  of  the  work  of 
constructing  the  tabernacle,  the  sanctity  of  the 
Sabbath  as  a  sign  of  the  covenant  (xxxi.). 

After  this  priestly  digression,  the  thread  of  the 
story  is  resumed.  During  the  absence  of  Moses 
upon  the  mount,  the  people  imperilled  their  covenant 
relationship  with  their  God  by  worshipping  Him  in 
the  form  of  a  calf  ;  but,  on  the  very  earnest  inter- 
cession of  Moses  they  were  forgiven,  and  there  was 
given  to  him  the  special  revelation  of  Jehovah  as  a 
God  of  forgiving  pity  and  abounding  grace.  In  the 
tent  to  which  the  people  regularly  resorted  to  learn 
the  divine  will,  God  was  wont  to  speak  to  Moses 
face  to  face,  xxxii.  i-xxxiv.  9.  Then  follows  the 
other  version  of  the  decalogue  already  referred  to — 
ritual  rather  than  moral,  xxxiv.  10-28 — and  an  ac- 
count of  the  transfiguration  of  Moses,  as  he  laid 
Jehovah's  commands  upon  the  people,  xxxiv.  29-35. 
From  this  point  to  the  end  of  the  book  the  atmo- 
sphere is  again  unmistakably  priestly.  Chs.  xxxv.- 
xxxix,  beginning  with  the  Sabbath  law,  assert  with 
a  profusion  of  detail  that  the  instructions  given  in 
xxv.-xxxi.  were  carried  out  to  the  letter.  Then  the 
tabernacle  was  set  up  on  New  Year's  day,  the  divine 
glory  rilled  it,  and  the  subsequent  movements  of  the 
people  were  guided  by  cloud  and  fire  (xl.). 

The  unity  of  Exodus  is  not  quite  so  impressive  as 
that  of  Genesis.  This  is  due  to  the  different  pro- 
portion in  which  the  sources  are  blended,  P  playing 
a  much  more  conspicuous  part  here  than  there. 


2  2    Old  Testament  Introduction 

Without  hesitation,  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
book  may  be  at  once  relegated  to  this  source  :  viz. 
xxv.-xxxi.,  which  describe  the  tabernacle  to  be 
erected  with  all  that  pertained  to  it,  and  xxxv.-xl., 
which  relate  that  the  instructions  there  given  were 
fully  carried  out.  The  minuteness,  the  formality 
and  monotony  of  style  which  we  noticed  in  Genesis 
reappear  here  ;  but  the  real  spirit  of  P,  its  devotion 
to  everything  connected  with  the  sanctuary  and  wor- 
ship, is  much  more  obvious  here  than  there.  This 
document  is  also  fairly  prominent  in  the  first  half  of 
the  book,  and  its  presence  is  usually  easy  to  detect. 
The  section,  e.g.,  on  the  institution  of  the  passover 
and  the  festival  of  unleavened  bread,  xi.  9-xii.  20, 
is  easily  recognized  as  belonging  to  this  source.  Of 
very  great  importance  is  the  passage,  vi.  2-13,  which 
describes  the  revelation  given  to  Moses,  asserting 
that  the  fathers  knew  the  God  of  Israel  only  by  the 
name  El  Shaddai,  while  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
which  was  then  revealed  to  Moses  for  the  first  time, 
was  unknown  to  them.  The  succeeding  genealogy 
which  traces  the  descent  of  Moses  and  Aaron  to 
Levi,  vi.  14-30,  and  Aaron's  commission  to  be  the 
spokesman  of  Moses,  vii.  1-7,  also  come  from  P. 
This  source  also  gives  a  brief  account  of  the  oppres- 
sion and  the  plagues,  and  the  prominence  of  Aaron 
the  priest  in  the  story  of  the  latter  is  very  significant. 
In  E  the  plagues  come  when  Moses  stretches  out 
his  hand  or  his  rod  at  the  command  of  Jehovah, 
ix.  22,  x.  12,  21  ;  in  P,  Jehovah  says  to  Moses, 
"  Say  unto  Aaron,  '  Stretch  forth  thy  hand  '  or 
«  thy  rod,'  "  viii.  5,  16. 
The  story  to  which  we  have  just  alluded,  of  the 


Exodus  2  3 

revelation  of  the  name  Jehovah,  is  also  told  in  ch. 
hi.,  where  it  is  connected  with  the  incident  of  the 
burning  bush.  Apart  from  the  improbability  of  the 
same  document  telling  the  same  story  twice,  the 
very  picturesque  setting  of  ch.  iii.  is  convincing  proof 
that  we  have  here  a  section  from  one  of  the  pro- 
phetic documents,  and  we  cannot  long  doubt  which 
it  is.  For  while  one  of  those  documents  (J),  as  we 
have  seen,  uses  the  word  Jehovah  without  scruple 
throughout  the  whole  of  Genesis,  and  regards  that 
name  as  known  not  only  to  Abraham,  xv.  7,  but  even 
to  the  antediluvians,  iv.  26,  the  other  regularly  uses 
Elohim.  This  prophetic  story,  then,  of  the  revela- 
tion of  the  name  Jehovah  to  Moses,  must  belong  to 
E,  who  deliberately  avoids  the  name.  Jehovah 
throughout  Genesis,  because  he  considers  it  unknown 
before  the  time  of  Moses.  This  very  fact,  however, 
greatly  complicates  the  subsequent  analysis  of  the 
prophetic  documents  in  the  Pentateuch  ;  because, 
from  this  point  on,  both  are  now  free  to  use  the  name 
Jehovah  of  the  divine  Being,  and  thus  one  of  the 
principal  clues  to  the  analysis  practically  disap- 
pears.1 Considering  the  affinity  of  these  documents, 
it  is  therefore  competent,  as  we  have  seen,  to  treat 
them  as  a  unity. 

The  proof,  however,  that  both  prophetic  docu- 
ments are  really  present  in  Exodus,  if  not  at  first 
sight  obvious  or  extensive,  is  at  any  rate  convincing. 
In  one  source,  e.g.  (J),  the  Israelites  dwell  by  them- 
selves in  a  district  called  Goshen,  viii.  22  (cf.  Gen. 
xlv.  10) ;  in  the  other,  they  dwell  among  the  Egyp- 

1  Naturally  there  are  other  very  important  and  valuable 
clues,  e.g,  the  holy  mount  is  called  Sinai  in  J  and  Horeb  in  E. 


2\   Old  Testament   Introduction 

tians  as  neighbours,  so  that  the  women  can  borrow 
jewels  from  them,  iii.  22,  and  their  doors  have  to  be 
marked  with  blood  on  the  night  of  the  passover  to 
distinguish  them  from  the  Egyptians,  xii.  22.  Again 
in  J,  the  people  number  over  600,000,  xii.  37  ;  in  E 
they  are  so  few  that  they  only  require  two  midwives, 
i.  15.  Similar  slight  but  significant  differences  may 
be  found  elsewhere,  particularly  in  the  account  of 
the  plagues.  In  J,  e.g.,  Moses  predicts  the  punish- 
ment that  will  fall  if  Pharaoh  refuses  his  request, 
and  next  day  Jehovah  sends  it  :  in  E,  Moses  works 
the  wonders  by  raising  his  rod.  In  Exodus,  as  in 
Genesis,  J  reveals  the  divine  through  the  natural, 
E  rather  through  the  supernatural.  It  is  an  east 
wind,  e.g.,  in  J,  as  in  the  poem,  xv.  10,  that  drives 
back  the  Red  Sea,  xiv.  21a  (as  it  had  brought  the 
locusts,  x.  13)  ;  in  E  this  happens  on  the  raising  of 
Moses'  rod,  xiv.  16.  Here  again,  as  in  Genesis,  wt 
find  that  E  has  taken  the  first  step  on  the  way  to  P. 
For  this  miracle  (in  E)  at  the  Red  Sea,  which  in  J  is 
essentially  natural,  and  miraculous  only  in  happening 
at  the  critical  moment,  is  considerably  heightened  in 
P,  who  relates  that  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  the 
people  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  xiv.  22. 

These  three  great  documents  constitute  the  prin- 
cipal sources  of  the  book  of  Exodus  ;  but  here,  as 
in  Genesis,  there  are  fragments  that  belong  to  a 
more  primitive  order  of  ideas  than  that  represented 
by  the  compilers  of  the  documents  (cf.  iv.  24-26) ; 
there  is,  besides  the  two  decalogues,  a  body  of  legis- 
lation, xx.  23-xxiii.  33  ;  and  there  is  a  poem,  xv. 
1-18.  The  Book  of  the  Covenant,  as  it  is  called,  is  a 
body  of  mainly  civil  but  partly  religious  law,  prac- 


Exodus 


25 


tically  independent  of  the  narrative.  The  style  and 
contents  of  the  code  show  that  it  is  not  all  of  a 
piece,  but  must  have  been  of  gradual  growth.  The 
2nd  pers.  sing.,  e.g.,  sometimes  alternates  with  the  pi. 
in  consecutive  verses,  xxii.  21,  22.  Again,  while 
some  of  the  laws  state,  in  the  briefest  possible  words, 
the  official  penalty  attached  to  a  certain  crime,  xxi. 
12,  others  are  longer  and  introduce  a  religious  sanc- 
tion, xxii.  23,  24,  and  a  few  deal  definitely  with 
religious  feasts,  xxiii.  14-19,  obligations,  xxii.  29-31, 
or  sanctuaries,  xx.  23-26.  In  general,  the  code  im- 
plies the  settled  life  of  an  agricultural  and  pastoral 
people,  and  the  community  for  which  it  is  designed 
must  have  already  attained  a  certain  measure  of 
organization,  as  we  must  assume  that  there  were 
means  for  enacting  the  penalties  threatened.  A 
remarkably  humanitarian  spirit  pervades  the  code. 
It  mitigates  the  lot  of  the  slave,  it  encourages  a 
spirit  of  justice  in  social  relations,  and  it  exhibits  a 
fine  regard  for  the  poor  and  defenceless,  xxii.  21-27. 
It  probably  represents  the  juristic  usages,  or  at  least 
ideals,  of  the  early  monarchy. 

The  Song  of  Moses,  xv.  1-18,  also  appears  to  belong 
to  the  monarchy.  The  explicit  mention  of  Philistia, 
Edom  and  Moab  in  vv.  14,  15  imply  that  the  people 
are  already  settled  in  Canaan,  and  the  sanctuary  in 
v.  zyb  is  most  naturally,  if  not  necessarily,  inter- 
preted of  the  temple.  The  poem  appears  to  be  an 
elaboration  of  the  no  doubt  ancient  lines  : 

Sing  to  Jehovah,  for  He  hath  triumphed  gloriously  ; 

The  horse  and  his  rider  He  hath  thrown  into  the  sea  (xv.  21). 

The  religious,  as  opposed  to  the  theological,  in- 


26   Old  Testament   Introduction 

terest  of  the  book  lies  entirely  within  the  prophetic 
sources.  Here  the  drama  of  redemption  begins  in 
earnest,  and  it  is  worked  out  on  a  colossal  scale. 
From  his  first  blow  struck  in  the  cause  of  justice  to 
the  day  on  which,  in  indignation  and  astonishment, 
he  destroyed  the  golden  calf,  Moses  is  a  figure  of 
overwhelming  moral  earnestness.  Few  books  in  the 
Old  Testament  have  a  higher  conception  of  God 
than  Exodus.  The  words  of  the  decalogue  are  His 
words,  xx.  i,  and  the  protest  against  the  calf -worship 
(xxxii.-xxxiv.)  is  an  indirect  plea  for  His  spirituality. 
But  the  highest  heights  are  touched  in  the  revelation 
of  Him  as  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering  and 
abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  xxxiv.  6 — a  revela- 
tion which  lived  to  the  latest  days  and  was  cherished 
in  these  very  words  by  the  pious  hearts  of  Israel 
(cf.  Pss.  lxxxvi.  15  ;  ciii.  8  ;  cxi.  4  ;  cxlv.  8). 


Leviticus 

The  emphasis  which  modern  criticism  has  very 
properly  laid  on  the  prophetic  books  and  the  pro- 
phetic element  generally  in  the  Old  Testament,  has 
had  the  effect  of  somewhat  diverting  popular  atten- 
tion from  the  priestly  contributions  to  the  literature 
and  religion  of  Israel.  From  this  neglect  Leviti- 
cus has  suffered  most.  Yet  for  many  reasons  it  is 
worthy  of  close  attention  ;  it  is  the  deliberate  ex- 
pression of  the  priestly  mind  of  Israel  at  its  best, 
and  it  thus  forms  a  welcome  foil  to  the  unattractive 
pictures  of  the  priests  which  confront  us  on  the  pages 
of  the  prophets  during  the  three  centuries  between 
Hosea  and  Malachi.  And  if  we  should  be  inclined 
to  deplore  the  excessively  minute  attention  to 
ritual,  and  the  comparatively  subordinate  part 
played  by  ethical  considerations  in  this  priestly 
manual,  it  is  only  fair  to  remember  that  the  hymn- 
book  used  by  these  scrupulous  ministers  of  worship 
was  the  Psalter — enough  surely  to  show  that  the 
ethical  and  spiritual  aspects  of  religion,  though  not 
prominent,  were  very  far  from  being  forgotten. 
In  xvii.-xxvi.  the  ethical  element  receives  a  fine  and 
almost  surprising  prominence  :  the  injunction  to 
abstain  from  idolatry,  e.g.,  is  immediately  preceded 
by  the  injunction  to  reverence  father  and  mother, 


28    Old   Testament   Introduction 

xix.  3,  4.  Indeed,  ch.  xix.  is  a  good  compendium  of 
the  ethics  of  ancient  Israel ;  and,  while  hardly  to 
be  compared  with  Job  xxxi.,  still,  in  its  care  for  the 
resident  alien,  and  in  its  insistence  upon  motives  of 
benevolence  and  humanity,  it  is  an  eloquent  re- 
minder of  the  moral  elevation  of  Israel's  religion, 
and  is  peculiarly  welcome  in  a  book  so  largely  devoted 
to  the  externals  of  the  cult. 

The  book  of  Leviticus  illustrates  the  origin  and 
growth  of  law.  Occasionally  legislation  is  clothed 
in  the  form  of  narrative — the  law  of  blasphemy, 
e.g.,  xxiv.  10-23  (cf-  x-  16-20) — thus  suggesting  its 
origin  in  a  particular  historical  incident  (cf.  1  Sam. 
xxx.  25) ;  and  traces  of  growth  are  numerous,  notably 
in  the  differences  between  the  group  xvii.-xxvi.  and 
the  rest  of  the  book,  and  very  ancient  heathen 
elements  are  still  visible  through  the  transformations 
effected  by  the  priests  of  Israel,  as  in  the  case  of 
Azazel  xvi.  8,22,  a  demon  of  the  wilderness,  akin 
to  the  Arabic  jinns.  Strictly  speaking,  though 
Leviticus  is  pervaded  by  a  single  spirit,  it  is  not 
quite  homogeneous  :  the  first  group  of  laws,  e.g. 
(i.-vii.),  expressly  acknowledges  different  sources — 
certain  laws  being  given  in  the  tent  of  meeting,  i. 
1,  others  on  Mount  Sinai,  vii.  38.  The  sections  are 
well  defined — note  the  subscriptions  at  the  end  of  vii. 
and  xxvi. — and  marked  everywhere  by  the  scrupu- 
lous precision  of  the  legal  mind. 

There  is  no  trace  in  Leviticus  of  the  prophetic 
document  JE.  That  the  book  is  essentially  a  law  book 
rather  than  a  continuation  of  the  narrative  of  the 
Exodus  is  made  plain  by  the  fact  that  that  narrative 
(Ex.  xl.)  is  not  even  formally  resumed  till  ch.  viii. 


Leviticus 


I.  Laws  of  Sacrifice  (i.-vii.) 


29 


(a)  For  worshippers,  i.-vi.  7.  Laws  for  the  burnt 
offering  of  the  herd,  of  the  flock,  and  of  fowls  (i.). 
Laws  for  the  different  kinds  of  cereal  offerings — the 
use  of  salt  compulsory,  honey  and  leaven  prohibited 
(ii.).  Laws  for  the  peace-offering — the  offerer  kills 
it,  the  priest  sprinkles  the  blood  on  the  sides  of 
the  altar  and  burns  the  fat  (iii . ) .  For  an  unconscious 
transgression  of  the  law,  the  high  priest  shall  offer 
a  bullock,  the  community  shall  offer  the  same,  a 
ruler  shall  offer  a  he-goat,  one  of  the  common  people 
shall  offer  a  female  animal  (iv.).  A  female  animal 
shall  be  offered  for  certain  legal  and  ceremonial 
transgressions  ;  the  poor  may  offer  two  turtle  doves, 
or  pigeons,  or  even  flour,  v.  1-13.  Sacred  dues 
unintentionally  withheld  or  the  property  of  another 
man  dishonestly  retained  must  be  restored  together 
with  twenty  per  cent,  extra,  v.  14-vi.  7. 

(b)  For  priests,  vi.  8-vii.  38.  Laws  regulating  the 
daily  burnt  offering,  the  cereal  offering,  the  daily 
cereal  offering  of  the  high  priest,  and  the  ordinary 
sin  offering,  vi.  8-30.  Laws  regulating  the  guilt 
offering,  the  priests'  share  of  the  sacrifices,  the  period 
during  which  the  flesh  of  sacrifice  may  be  eaten,  the 
prohibition  of  the  eating  of  fat  and  blood  (vii.). 

II.    The  Consecration  of  the  Priesthood 
(viii.-x.) 

This  section  is  the  direct  continuation  of  Exodus 
xl.,  which  prescribes  the  inauguration  of  Aaron  and 
his  sons  into  the  priestly  office.     Laws  regulating 


30   Old  Testament  Introduction 

the  consecration  of  the  high  priest  and  the  other 
priests — washing,  investiture,  anointing,  sin  offering, 
burnt  offering,  with  accompanying  rites  (viii.,  cf. 
Exod.  xxix.).  The  first  sacrificial  service  at 
which  Aaron  and  his  sons  officiate — the  benediction 
being  followed  by  the  appearance  of  Jehovah's 
glory  (ix.).  The  first  violation  of  the  law  of  worship 
and  its  signal  punishment,  x.  1-7.  Officiating  priests 
forbidden  to  use  wine,  x.  8-1 1.  Priests'  share  of 
the  meal  and  peace  offerings,  x.  12-15.  An  error 
forgiven  after  an  adroit  explanation  by  Aaron  (law 
in  narrative  form),  x.  16-20. 


III.    Laws  Concerning  the  Clean  and  the 
Unclean  (xi.-xvi.) 

This  section  appropriately  follows  x.  10,  where  the 
priests  are  enjoined  to  distinguish  between  the  clean 
and  the  unclean.  Laws  concerning  the  animals 
which  may  or  may  not  be  eaten — quadrupeds,  fish, 
birds,  flying  insects,  creeping  insects,  reptiles — and 
pollution  through  contact  with  carcasses  (xi.).  Laws 
concerning  the  purification  of  women  after  child- 
birth (xii.).  Laws  for  the  detection  of  leprosy  in  the 
human  body,  xiii.  1-46,  and  in  garments,  xiii.  47-59. 
Laws  for  the  purification  of  the  leper  and  his  re- 
adoption  into  the  theocracy,  xiv.  1-32.  Laws  con- 
cerning houses  afflicted  with  leprosy,  xiv.  33-57. 
Laws  concerning  purification  after  sexual  secretions 
(xv.).  The  laws  of  purification  are  appropriately 
concluded  by  the  law  for  the  great  day  of  atonement, 
with  regulations  for  the  ceremonial  cleansing  of  the 


Leviticus  3 1 

high  priest  and  his  house,  the  sanctuary,  altar,  and 
people  (xvi.).  Two  originally  independent  sections 
appear  to  be  blended  in  this  chapter — one  (cf .  vv.  1-4) 
prescribing  regulations  to  be  observed  by  the  high 
priest  on  every  occasion  on  which  he  should  enter 
the  inner  sanctuary,  the  other  with  specific  reference 
to  the  great  day  of  atonement. 


IV.    Law  of  Holiness  (xvii.-xxvi.) 

This  section,  though  still  moving  largely  among 
ritual  interests,  differs  markedly  from  the  rest  of  the 
book,  partly  by  reason  of  its  hortatory  setting 
(cf.  xxvi.),  but  especially  by  its  emphasis  on  the 
ethical  elements  in  religion.  It  has  been  designated 
the  Law  of  Holiness  because  of  the  frequently  re- 
curring phrase,  "  Ye  shall  be  holy,  for  I,  Jehovah, 
am  holy,"  xix.  2,  xx.  26 — a  phrase  which,  though 
not  peculiar  to  this  section  (cf.  xi.  44),  is  highly 
characteristic  of  it.  Animals  are  to  be 

slaughtered  for  food  or  sacrifice  only  at  the  sanctuary 
xvii.  1-9  ;  the  blood  and  flesh  of  animals  dying 
naturally  or  torn  by  beasts  is  not  to  be  eaten,  xvii. 
10-16.  Laws  regulating  marriage  and  chastity  with 
threats  of  dire  punishment  for  violation  of  the  same 
(xviii.).  Penalties  for  Moloch  worship,  soothsaying, 
cursing  of  parents  and  unchastity  (xx.),  with  a  hor- 
tatory conclusion,  xx.  22-24,  similar  to  xviii.  24-30. 
Ch.  xix.  is  the  most  prophetic  chapter  in  Leviticus, 
and  bears  a  close  analogy  to  the  decalogue,  vv.  3-8 
corresponding  to  the  first  table,  and  vv.  n-18  to 
the  second.     The  holiness  which  Jehovah  demands 


32    Old  Testament   Introduction 

has  to  express  itself  not  only  in  reverence  for  Himself 
and  His  Sabbaths,  but  in  reverence  towards  parents 
and  the  aged  ;  in  avoiding  not  only  idolatry  and 
heathen  superstition,  but  dishonesty  and  unkindness 
to  the  weak.  The  ideal  is  a  throroughly  moral  one. 
A  modern  reader  is  surprised  to  find  in  so  ethical  a 
chapter  a  prohibition  of  garments  made  of  two  kinds 
of  stuff  mingled  together  v.  19  ;  no  doubt  such  a 
prohibition  is  aimed  at  some  heathen  superstition — 
perhaps  the  practice  of  magic. 

Laws  concerning  priests  and  sacrifices  (xxi.,  xxii.). 
The  holiness  of  the  priests  is  to  be  maintained  by 
avoiding,  as  a  rule  (without  exception  in  the  case  of 
the  high  priest),  pollution  through  corpses  and  par- 
ticipation in  certain  mourning  rites,  and  by  conform- 
ing to  certain  conditions  in  their  choice  of  a  wife. 
The  physically  deformed  are  to  be  ineligible  for  the 
priesthood  (xxi.).  Regulations  to  safeguard  the 
ceremonial  purity  of  the  sacred  food  :  imperfect  or 
deformed  animals  ineligible  for  sacrifice  (xxii.).  In 
ch.  xxiii.,  which  is  a  calendar  of  sacred  festivals,  the 
festivals  are  enumerated  in  the  order  in  which  they 
occur  in  the  year,  beginning  with  spring — the  pass- 
over,  regarded  as  preliminary  to  the  feast  of  un- 
leavened bread  ;  the  feast  of  weeks  (Pentecost) 
seven  weeks  afterwards  ;  the  new  year's  festival, 
on  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month  ;  the  day  of 
atonement  ;  and  the  festival  of  booths.  There  are 
signs  that  the  section  dealing  with  new  year's  day 
and  the  day  of  atonement,  vv.  23-32,  is  later  than  the 
original  form  of  the  rest  of  the  chapter  dealing  with 
the  three  great  ancient  festivals  that  rested  on 
agriculture  and  the  vintage.     Of  kindred  theme  to 


Leviticus  3  3 

this  chapter  is  ch.  xxv. — the  sacred  years — (a)  the 
sabbatical  year  :  the  land,  like  the  man,  must  enjoy 
a  Sabbath  rest,  vv.  1-7  ;  (b)  the  jubilee  year,  an 
intensification  of  the  Sabbatical  idea  :  every  fiftieth 
year  is  to  be  a  period  of  rest  for  the  land,  liberation 
of  Hebrew  slaves,  and  restoration  of  property  to  its 
original  owners  or  legal  heirs,  vv.  8-55.  In  xxiv. 
1-9  are  regulations  concerning  the  lampstand  and 
the  shewbread  ;  the  law,  in  the  form  of  a  narrative, 
prohibiting  blasphemy,  vv.  10-23,  is  interrupted  by 
a  few  laws  concerning  injury  to  the  person,  vv.  17-22. 

The  laws  of  holiness  conclude  (xxvi.)  with  a  power- 
ful exposition  of  the  blessing  which  will  follow 
obedience  and  the  curse  which  is  the  penalty  of  dis- 
obedience. The  curse  reaches  a  dramatic  climax  in 
the  threat  of  exile,  from  which,  however,  deliverance 
is  promised  on  condition  of  repentance. 

Ch.  xxvii.  constitutes  no  part  of  the  Law  of  Holi- 
ness— note  the  subscription  in  xxvi.  46.  It  contains 
regulations  for  the  commutation  of  vows  (whether 
persons,  cattle  or  things)  and  tithes — commutation 
being  inadmissible  in  the  case  of  firstlings  of  animals 
fit  for  sacrifice  and  of  things  and  persons  that  had 
come  under  the  ban. 

Special  importance  attaches  to  the  Law  of  Holi- 
ness, known  to  criticism  as  H  (xvii.-xxvi.).  In  its 
interest  in  worship,  it  marks  a  very  long  advance  on 
the  Book  of  the  Covenant  (Exod.  xxi.-xxiii.),  and  it 
would  seem  to  stand  somewhere  between  Deuter- 
onomy and  the  priestly  codex.  It  is  profoundly 
interested,  like  the  former,  in  the  ethical  side  of 
religion,  and  yet  it  is  almost  as  deeply  concerned 
about  ritual  as  the  latter.     But  though  it  may  be 

3 


34   Old  Testament  Introduction 

regarded  as  a  preliminary  step  to  the  priestly  code, 
it  is  clearly  distinguished  from  it,  both  by  its  tone 
and  its  vocabulary  :  the  word  for  idols,  e.g.  (things 
of  nought),  xix.  4,  xxvi.  1,  does  not  occur  elsewhere 
in  the  Pentateuch.  It  specially  emphasizes  the 
holiness  of  Jehovah  ;  as  has  been  said,  in  H  He  is  the 
person  to  whom  the  cult  is  performed,  while  the 
question  of  how  is  more  elaborately  dealt  with  in  P. 
There  are  stray  allusions  which  almost  seem  to  point 
to  pre-exilic  days  ;  e.g.  to  idols,  xxvi.  30,  Moloch 
being  explicitly  mentioned,  xviii.  21,  xx.  2  ;  and 
the  various  sanctuaries  presupposed  by  xxvi.  31 
would  almost  seem  to  carry  us  back  to  a  point  before 
the  promulgation  of  Deuteronomy  in  621  B.C.  ;  but 
on  the  other  hand  the  exile  appears  to  be  presup- 
posed in  xviii.  24-30,  xxvi.  34.  This  code,  like  all 
the  others  in  the  Old  Testament,  was  no  doubt  the 
result  of  gradual  growth — note  the  alternation  of 
2nd  pers.  sing,  and  pi.  in  ch.  xix. — but  the  main 
body  of  it  may  be  placed  somewhere  between  600 
and  550  B.C.  The  section  bears  so  strong  a  resem- 
blance to  Ezekiel  that  he  has  been  supposed  by  some 
to  be  the  author,  but  this  is  improbable. 

It  is  easy  to  see  how  the  minuteness  of  the  ritual 
religion  of  Leviticus  could  degenerate  into  casuistry. 
Its  emphasis  on  externals  is  everywhere  visible,  and 
its  lack  of  kindly  human  feeling  is  only  too  conspicu- 
ous in  its  treatment  of  the  leper,  xiii.  45,  46.  But 
over  against  this,  to  say  nothing  of  the  profound 
symbolism  of  the  ritual,  must  be  set  the  moral 
virility  of  the  law  of  holiness — its  earnest  inculcation 
of  commercial  honour,  reverence  for  the  aged,  xix. 


Leviticus  3  5 

32,  and  even  unselfish  love.  For  it  is  to  this  source 
that  we  owe  the  great  word  adopted  by  our  Saviour, 
"  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  xix. 
18,  though  the  first  part  of  the  verse  shows  that  this 
noble  utterance  still  moves  within  the  limitations  of 
the  Old  Testament. 


Numbers 

Like  the  last  part  of  Exodus,  and  the  whole  of 
Leviticus,  the  first  part  of  Numbers,  i.-x.  28 — so 
called,1  rather  inappropriately,  from  the  census  in 
i.,  hi.,  (iv.),  xxvi. — is  unmistakably  priestly  in  its 
interests  and  language.  Beginning  with  a  census  of 
the  men  of  war  (i.)  and  the  order  of  the  camp  (ii.),  it 
devotes  specific  attention  to  the  Levites,  their  num- 
bers and  duties  (hi.,  iv.).  Then  follow  laws  for  the 
exclusion  of  the  unclean,  v.  1-4,  for  determining  the 
manner  and  amount  of  restitution  in  case  of  fraud, 
v.  5-10,  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  a  married  woman 
suspected  of  unfaithfulness,  v.  11-31,  and  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  Nazirite  vow,  vi.  1-21.  This  legal  section 
ends  with  the  priestly  benediction,  vi.  22-27.  Then, 
closely  connected  with  the  narrative  in  Exodus  ad., 
is  an  unusually  elaborate  account  of  the  dedication 
gifts  that  were  offered  on  the  occasion  of  the  erection 
of  the  tabernacle  (vii.).  This  quasi-historical  inter- 
lude is  again  followed  by  a  few  sections  of  a  more 

1  In  the  Greek  version,  followed  by  the  Latin.  This  is  the 
only  book  of  the  Pentateuch  in  which  the  English  version  has 
retained  the  Latin  title,  the  other  titles  being  all  Greek.  The 
Hebrew  titles  are  usually  borrowed  from  the  opening  words  of 
the  book.  The  Hebrew  title  of  Numbers  is  either  "  And  he 
said  "  or  "  in  the  wilderness  "  :  the  latter  is  fairly  appropriate — 
certainly  much  more  so  than  the  Greek. 

38 


Numbers  3  7 

legal  nature — instructions  for  fixing  the  lamps  upon 
the  lampstand,  viii.  1-4,  for  the  consecration  of  the 
Levites  and  their  period  of  service,  viii.  5-26,  for  the 
celebration  of  the  passover,  and,  in  certain  cases,  of 
a  supplementary  passover,  ix.  1-14.  Then,  with  the 
divine  guidance  assured,  and  the  order  of  march 
determined,  the  start  from  Sinai  was  made,  ix.  15- 
x.  28. 

At  this  point,  the  old  prophetic  narrative  (Exod. 
xxxii.-xxxiv.),  interrupted  by  Exodus  xxxv.  i-Num- 
bers  x.  28,  is  resumed  with  an  account  of  the  precau- 
tions taken  to  secure  reliable  guidance  through  the 
wilderness,  x.  29-32,  and  a  very  interesting  snatch 
of  ancient  poetry,  through  which  we  may  easily  read 
the  unique  importance  of  the  ark  for  early  Israel, 
x-  33-36.  The  succeeding  chapters  make  no  pre- 
tence to  be  a  connected  history  of  the  wilderness 
period  ;  the  incidents  with  which  they  deal  are  very 
few,  and  these  are  related  rather  for  their  religious 
than  their  historical  significance,  e.g.  the  murmuring 
of  the  people,  the  terrible  answer  to  their  prayer  for 
flesh,  the  divine  equipment  of  the  seventy  elders, 
the  magnanimity  of  Moses  (xi.),  and  the  vindication 
of  his  prophetic  dignity  (xii.).  Before  the  actual 
assault  on  Canaan,  spies  were  sent  out  to  investigate 
the  land.  But  the  people  allowed  themselves  to  be 
discouraged  by  their  report,  and  for  their  unbelief 
the  whole  generation  except  Caleb  (and  Joshua)1 
was  doomed  to  die  in  the  wilderness,  without  a  sight 
of  the  promised  land  (xiii.,  xiv.).  The  thread  of  the 
narrative,  broken  at  this  point  by  laws  relating  to 

1  Caleb  alone  in  JE,  Joshua  also  in  P. 


38    Old  Testament   Introduction 

offerings  and  sacrifices,  xv.  1-31,  the  hallowing  of 
the  Sabbath,  xv.  32-36,  and  the  wearing  of  fringes, 
xv.  37-41,  is  at  once  resumed  by  a  complicated 
account  of  a  rebellion  against  Moses,  which  ended 
in  the  destruction  of  the  rebels,  and  in  the  signal 
vindication  of  the  authority  of  Moses,  the  privileges 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  the  exclusive  right  of  the 
sons  of  Aaron  to  the  priesthood  (xvi.,  xvii.).  Again 
the  narrative  element  gives  place  to  legislation 
regulating  the  duties,  relative  position  and  revenues 
of  the  priests  and  Levites  (xviii.)  and  the  manner  of 
purification  after  defilement  (xix.). 

These  laws  are  followed  by  a  section  of  continuous 
narrative.  Moses  and  Aaron,  for  certain  rebellious 
words,  are  divinely  warned  that  they  will  not  be 
permitted  to  bring  the  people  into  the  promised 
land — a  warning  which  was  followed  soon  afterwards 
by  the  death  of  Aaron  on  Mount  Hor.  Edom 
haughtily  refused  Israel  permission  to  pass  through 
her  land  (xx.).  Sore  at  heart,  they  fretted  against 
God  and  Moses,  and  deadly  serpents  were  sent  among 
them  in  chastisement,  but  the  penitent  and  believing 
were  restored  by  the  power  of  God  and  the  inter- 
cession of  Moses.  Then  Israel  turned  north,  and 
began  her  career  of  conquest  by  defeating  Sihon, 
king  of  the  Amorites,  and  Og,  king  of  Bashan 
(xxi.).  Her  success  struck  terror  into  the  heart  of 
Balak,  the  king  of  Moab  ;  he  accordingly  sent  for 
Balaam,  a  famous  soothsayer,  with  the  request  that 
he  would  curse  Israel  (xxii.).  Instead,  however,  he 
foretold  for  her  a  splendid  destiny  (xxiii.,  xxiv.). 
But  the  reality  fell  pitifully  short  of  this  fair  ideal, 
for  Israel  at  once  succumbed  to  the  seductions  of 


Numbers  3  9 

idolatry  and  impurity,1  and  the  fearful  punishment 
which  fell  upon  her  for  her  sin  was  only  stayed  by 
the  zeal  of  Phinehas,  the  high  priest's  son,  who  was 
rewarded  with  the  honour  of  perpetual  priesthood, 
xxv.  1-15.  Implacable  enmity  was  enjoined  against 
Midian,  xxv.  16-18. 

From  this  point  to  the  end  of  the  book  the  narra- 
tive is,  with  few  exceptions,  distinctly  priestly  in 
complexion  ;  the  vivid  scenes  of  the  older  narrative 
are  absent,  and  their  place  is  taken,  for  the  most 
part,  either  by  statistics  and  legislative  enactments 
or  by  narrative  which  is  only  legislation  in  disguise. 
A  census  (xxvi.)  was  taken  at  the  end,  as  at  the 
beginning  of  the  wanderings  (L),  which  showed  that, 
except  Caleb  and  Joshua,  the  whole  generation  had 
perished  (cf.  xiv.  29,  34).  Then  follow  sections  on 
the  law  of  inheritance  of  daughters,  xxvii.  1-11,  the 
announcement  of  Moses'  imminent  death  and  the 
appointment  of  Joshua  his  successor,  xxvii.  12-23, 
a  priestly  calendar  defining  the  sacrifices  appropriate 
to  each  season  (xxviii.,  xxix.),  and  the  law  of  vows 
(xxx.).  In  accordance  with  the  injunction  of  xxv. 
16-18  a  war  of  extermination  was  successfully  under- 
taken against  Midian  (xxxi.).  The  land  east  of  the 
Jordan  was  allotted  to  Reuben,  Gad  and  the  half 
tribe  of  Manasseh,  on  condition  that  they  would  help 
the  other  tribes  to  conquer  the  west  (xxxii.).  Follow- 
ing an  itinerary  of  the  wanderings  from  the 
exodus  to  the  plains  of  Moab  (xxxiii.)  is  a  description 
of  the  boundaries  of  the  land  allotted  to  the  various 

1  Moabite  idolatry,  and  intermarriage  with  the  Midianites — 
ultimately,  it  would  seem,  the  same  story.  JE  gives  the  begin- 
ning of  it,  vv.  1-5,  and  P  the  conclusion,  vv.  6-18. 


4-0   Old  Testament  Introduction 

tribes  (xxxiv.),  directions  for  the  Levitical  cities 
and  the  cities  of  refuge  (xxxv.),  and,  last  of  all,  a  law 
in  narrative  form,  determining  that  heiresses  who 
possessed  landed  property  should  marry  into  their 
own  tribe  (xxxvi.). 

Even  this  brief  sketch  of  the  book  of  Numbers  is 
enough  to  reveal  the  essential  incoherence  of  its  plan, 
and  the  great  divergence  of  the  elements  out  of  which 
it  is  composed.  No  book  in  the  Pentateuch  makes 
so  little  the  impression  of  a  unity.  The  phenomena 
of  Exodus  are  here  repeated  and  intensified  ;  a 
narrative  of  the  intensest  moral  and  historical 
interest  is  broken  at  frequent  intervals  by  statistical 
and  legal  material,  some  of  which,  at  least,  makes 
hardly  any  pretence  to  be  connected  with  the  main 
body  of  the  story.  By  far  the  largest  part  of  the 
book  comes  from  P,  and  most  of  it  is  very  easy  to 
detect.  No  possible  doubt,  e.g.,  can  attach  to 
i.-x.  28,  with  its  interest  in  priests,  Levites,  taber- 
nacle and  laws.  As  significant  as  the  contents  is  the 
style  which  is  not  seldom  diffuse  to  tediousness*  e.g., 
in  the  account  of  the  census  (i.),  the  dedication  gifts 
(vii.),  or  the  regulation  of  the  movements  of  the  camp 
by  the  cloud,  ix.  15-23.  Ch.  xv.,  with  its  laws  for 
offerings,  sacrifices  and  the  Sabbath,  ch.  xvii.,  with 
its  vindication  of  the  special  prerogatives  of  the  tribe 
of  Levi,  and  chs.  xviii.,  xix.,  which  regulate  the  duties 
and  privileges  of  priests  and  Levites,  and  the  manner 
of  purification,  are  also  unmistakable.  Chs.  xxvi.- 
xxxi.,  as  even  the  preliminary  sketch  of  the  book 
would  suggest,  must,  for  similar  reasons,  also  have 
the  same  origin.     To  P  also  clearly  belong  xxxiii. 


Numbers  4 1 

and  xxxiv.  with  their  statistical  bent,  and  xxxv.  and 
xxx vi.  with  their  interest  in  the  Levites  and  legis- 
lation. Besides  these  sections,  however,  the  pres- 
ence of  P  is  certain — though  not  always  so  easily 
detected,  as  it  is  in  combination  with  JE — in  some 
of  the  more  distinctively  narrative  sections,  e.g.  in 
the  account  of  the  spies  (xiii.,  xiv.),  of  the  rebellion 
against  the  authority  of  Moses  and  Aaron  (xvi.),  of 
the  sin  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  xx.  1-13,  and  of  the 
settlement  east  of  the  Jordan  (xxxii.).  About  such 
narratives  as  the  death  of  Aaron,  xx.  22-29,  or  the 
zeal  and  reward  of  Phinehas,  xxv.  6-18,  there  can 
be  no  doubt. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  odd  verses,  all  that 
remains,  after  deducting  the  passages  referred  to, 
belongs  to  the  prophetic  narrative  (JE).  The 
radical  difference  in  point  of  style  and  interests 
between  JE  and  P  occasionally  extends  even  to 
their  account  of  the  facts.  The  story  of  the  spies 
furnishes  several  striking  illustrations  of  this  dif- 
ference. In  JE  they  go  from  the  wilderness  to 
Hebron  in  the  south  of  Judah,  xiii.  22,  in  P  they 
go  to  the  extreme  north  of  Palestine,  xiii.  21. 
In  JE  Caleb  is  the  only  faithful  spy,  xiii.  30,  xiv.  24, 
P  unites  him  with  Joshua,  xiv.  6, 38.  In  JE  the  land 
is  fertile,  but  its  inhabitants  are  invincible,  in  P  it  is 
a  barren  land.  The  story  of  the  rebellion  of  Korah, 
Dathan  and  Abiram  is  peculiarly  instructive  (xvi.). 
It  will  be  noticed  that  Dathan  and  Abiram  are 
occasionally  mentioned  by  themselves,  vv.  12,  25, 
and  Korah  by  himself,  vv.  5,  19.  If  this  clue  be 
followed  up,  it  will  be  found  that  the  rebellion  of 
Dathan    and    Abiram    is    essentially    against    the 


42    Old  Testament   Introduction 

authority  of  Moses,  whom  they  charge  with  disap- 
pointing their  hopes,  vv.  13,  14.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  rebellion  headed  by  Korah  is  traced  to  two 
sources * :  it  is  regarded  in  one  of  these  as  a  layman's 
protest  against  the  exclusive  sanctity  of  the  tribe  of 
Levi,  v.  3,  and,  in  the  other,  as  a  Levitical  protest 
against  the  exclusive  right  of  the  sons  of  Aaron  to 
the  priesthood,  vv.  8-1 1.  Perhaps  the  most  strik- 
ing difference  between  JE  and  P  is  in  the  account 
of  the  ark.  In  JE  it  goes  before  the  camp,  x.  33 
(cf.  Exod.  xxxiii.  7),  in  P  the  tabernacle,  to  which  it 
belongs,  is  in  the  centre  of  the  camp,  ii.  17,  which  is 
foursquare. 

Much  more  than  in  Genesis,  and  even  more  than 
in  Exodus  have  J  and  E  been  welded  together  in 
Numbers — so  closely,  indeed,  that  it  is  usually  all 
but  impossible  to  distinguish  them  with  certainty  ; 
but,  here,  as  in  Exodus,  there  are  occasional  proofs 
of  compositeness.  The  apparent  confusion  of  the 
story  of  Balaam,  e.g.  (xxii.),  in  which  God  is  angry 
with  him  after  giving  him  permission  to  go,  is  to  be 
explained  by  the  simple  fact  that  the  story  is  told  in 
both  sources.  This  duplication  extends  even  to  the 
poetry  in  chs.  xxiii.  and  xxiv.  (cf.  xxiv.  8,  9,  xxiii. 
22,  24). 

There  is  not  a  trace  of  P  in  the  Balaam  story. 
All  the  romantic  and  religious,  as  opposed  to 
the  legal  and  theological  interest  of  the  book,  is 
confined  to  the  prophetic  section  (JE)  ;  and  it 
greatly  to  be  regretted  that  more  of  it  has  not 
been    preserved.        The     structure    of    the    book 

1  Two  strata  of  P  are  plainly  visible  here  :   cf.  p.  74. 


Numbers  4  3 

plainly  shows  that  it  has  been  displaced  in  the 
interests  of  P,  and  from  the  express  reference 
to  the  "  ten  times  "  that  Israel  tempted  Jehovah, 
xiv.  22,  we  may  safely  infer  that  much  has  been 
lost.  But  what  has  been  preserved  is  of  great 
religious,  and  some  historical  value.  Of  course,  it 
is  not  history  in  the  ordinary  sense  :  a  period  of 
thirty-eight  years  is  covered  in  less  than  ten  chap- 
ters (x.  11-xix.).  But  much  of  the  material,  at 
least  in  the  prophetic  history  JE,  rests  on  a  tradition 
which  may  well  have  preserved  some  of  the  historical 
facts,  especially  as  they  were  often  embalmed  in 
poetry. 

The  book  of  Numbers  throws  some  light  on  the 
importance  of  ancient  poetry  as  a  historical  source. 
It  cites  a  difficult  fragment  and  refers  it  to  the  book 
of  the  wars  of  Jehovah,  xxi.  14,  it  confirms  the  vic- 
tory over  Sihon  by  a  quotation  from  a  war-ballad 
which  is  referred  to  a  guild  of  singers,  xxi.  27,  it 
quotes  the  ancient  words  with  which  the  warriors 
broke  up  their  camp  and  returned  to  it  again,  x. 
35,  36,  and  it  relieves  its  wild  war-scenes  by  the 
lovely  Song  of  the  Well,  xxi.  17,  18.  Probably  other 
episodes  in  the  books  of  Numbers,  Joshua  and 
Judges  (e.g.  ch.  v.)  ultimately  rest  upon  this  lost 
book  of  the  wars  of  Jehovah.  The  fine  poetry 
ascribed  to  Balaam,  which  breathes  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  a  high  national  destiny,  may  belong 
to  the  time  of  the  early  monarchy,  xxiv.  7,  perhaps 
to  that  of  David,  to  whom  xxiv.  17-19  seems  to 
be  a  clear  allusion.  The  five  verses  that  follow 
Balaam's  words,  xxiv.  20-24,  are  apparently  a  late 
appendix  ;  the  mention  of  Chittim  in  v.  24  would 


44   Old  Testament   Introduction 

almost  carry  the  passage  down  to  the  Greek  period 
(4th  cent.  B.C.),  and  of  Asshur  in  v.  22  at  least  to 
the  Assyrian  period  (8th  cent.),  unless  the  name 
stands  for  a  Bedawin  tribe  (cf.  Gen.  xxv.  3). 

Historically  P  is  of  little  account.  This  is  most 
obvious  in  his  narrative  of  the  war  with  Midian 
(xxxi.),  in  which,  without  losing  a  single  man, 
Israel  slew  every  male  in  Midian  and  took  enormous 
booty.  It  is  suspicious  that  the  older  sources 
(JE)  have  not  a  single  word  to  say  of  so  remark- 
able a  victory  ;  but  the  impossibility  of  the  story 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that,  though  all  the  males  are 
slain,  the  tribe  reappears,  as  the  assailant  of  Israel, 
in  the  days  of  Gideon  (Jud.  vi.-viii.).  The  real 
object  of  the  story  is  to  illustrate  the  law  governing 
the  distribution  of  booty,  xxxi.  27 — a  law  which 
is  elsewhere  traced,  with  much  more  probability,  to 
an  ordinance  of  David  (1  Sam.  xxx.  24).  From 
this  unhistorical,  but  highly  instructive  chapter, 
we  learn  the  tendency  to  refer  all  Israel's  legislation, 
whatever  its  origin,  to  Moses,  and  the  further  ten- 
dency to  find  a  historical  precedent,  which  no 
doubt  once  existed,  for  the  details  of  the  legisla- 
tion. It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  the  narra- 
tives of  P  have  to  be  considered.  The  story  of  the 
fate  of  the  Sabbath-breaker  is  simply  told  to  em- 
phasize the  stringency  of  the  Sabbath  law,  xv. 
32-36,  the  particular  dilemma  in  ix.  6-14  is  created 
as  a  precedent  for  the  institution  of  the  supplemen- 
tary passover,  the  case  of  the  daughters  of  Zelo- 
phehad  serves  as  a  historical  basis  for  the  law 
governing  the  property  of  heiresses  (xxxvi.).  In 
other  words,  P  is  not  a  historian ;  his  narrative, 


Numbers  4  5 

even  where  it  is  explicit,  is  usually  but  the  thin 
disguise  of  legislation. 

As  in  Genesis  and  Exodus,  almost  every  stage  in 
the  development  of  the  religion  of  Israel  is  repre- 
sented by  the  book  of  Numbers.  Through  the 
story  in  xxi.  4-1 1  we  can  detect  the  practice  of 
serpent-worship,  which  we  know  persisted  to  the 
time  of  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xviii.  4)  ;  and  the  trial 
by  ordeal,  v.  11-31,  though  in  its  present  form  late, 
represents  no  doubt  a  very  ancient  custom.  P 
throws  much  light  on  the  usages  and  ideas  of  post- 
exilic  religion.  But  it  is  to  the  prophetic  document 
we  must  go  for  passages  of  abiding  religious  power 
and  value.  Here,  as  in  Exodus,  the  character  of 
Moses  offers  a  brilliant  study — in  his  solitary 
grandeur,  patient  strength,  and  heroic  faith  ;  stead- 
fast amid  jealousy,  suspicion  and  rebellion,  and 
vindicated  by  God  Himself  as  a  prophet  of  trans- 
cendent privilege  and  power  (xii.  8).  Over  against 
the  narrow  assertions  of  Levitical  and  priestly 
prerogative  (xvi.,  xvii),  which  reflect  but  too  faith- 
fully the  strife  of  a  later  day,  is  the  noble  prayer  of 
Moses  that  God  would  make  all  the  people  prophets, 
and  put  His  spirit  upon  them  every  one,  xi.  29. 


Deuteronomy 

Owing  to  the  comparatively  loose  nature  of  the 
connection  between  consecutive  passages  in  the 
legislative  section,  it  is  difficult  to  present  an 
adequate  summary  of  the  book  of  Deuteronomy. 
In  the  first  section,  i.-iv.  40,  Moses,  after  reviewing 
the  recent  history  of  the  people,  and  showing  how 
it  reveals  Jehovah's  love  for  Israel,  earnestly  urges 
upon  them  the  duty  of  keeping  His  laws,  reminding 
them  of  His  spirituality  and  absoluteness.  Then 
follows  the  appointment,  iv.  41-43 — here  irrelevant 
(cf.  xix.  1-13) — of  three  cities  of  refuge  east  of  the 
Jordan. 

The  second  section,  v.-xt.,  with  its  superscrip- 
tion, iv.  44-49,  is  a  hortatory  introduction  to  the 
more  specific  injunctions  of  xii.-xxviii.,  and  deals 
with  the  general  principles  by  which  Israel  is  to  be 
governed.  The  special  relation  between  Israel  and 
Jehovah  was  established  on  the  basis  of  the  deca- 
logue (Ex.  xx.),  and  with  this  Moses  begins,  re- 
minding the  people  of  their  promise  to  obey  any 
further  commands  Jehovah  might  give  (v.).  But 
as  the  source  of  all  true  obedience  is  a  right  attitude, 
Israel's  deepest  duty  is  to  love  Jehovah,  serving 
Him  with  reverence,  and  keeping  His  claims 
steadily  before  the  children  (vi.).  To  do  this 
effectively,  Israel  must  uncompromisingly  repudiate 


Deuteronomy  47 

all  social  and  religious  intercourse  with  the  idolatrous 
peoples  of  the  land,  and  Jehovah  their  God  will 
stand  by  them  in  the  struggle  (vii.).  In  the  past 
the  discipline  had  often  indeed  been  stern  and  sore, 
but  it  had  come  from  the  hand  of  a  father,  and  had 
been  intended  to  teach  the  spiritual  nature  of  true 
religion  ;  worldliness  and  idolatry  would  assuredly 
be  punished  by  defeat  and  destruction  (viii.).  And 
just  as  deadly  as  worldliness  is  the  spirit  of  self- 
righteousness,  a  spirit  as  absurd  as  it  is  deadly ; 
for  Israel's  past  has  been  marked  by  an  obstinacy 
so  disgraceful  that,  but  for  the  intercession  of 
Moses,  the  people  would  already  have  been  devoted 
tc  destruction,1  ix.  i-x.  n.  True  religion  is  the 
loving  service  of  the  great  God  and  of  needy  men, 
and  it  ought  to  be  inspired  by  reverent  fear.  Obedi- 
ence to  the  divine  commands  will  bring  life  and 
blessing,  disobedience  will  be  punished  by  the  curse 
and  death,  x.  12-xi. 

This  hortatory  introduction  is  succeeded  by  the 
specific  laws  which  form  the  main  body  of  the 
book  (xii.-xxvi.,  xxviii.).  Roughly  they  may  be 
classified  as  affecting  (a)  religious  (xii.-xvi.),  (b) 
civil  (xvii.-xx.),  and  (c)  social  (xxi.-xxv.)  life,  the 
religious  being  made  the  basis  of  the  other  two. 

(a)  As  the  true  worship  is  jeopardized  by  a  multi- 
plicity of  sanctuaries,  these  sanctuaries  are  declared 
illegal,  and  their  paraphernalia  are  to  be  destroyed ; 
worship  is  to  be  confined  henceforth  to  one  sanctuary 
(xii.),  and  every  idolatrous  person  and  influence  are 

1  Ch.  x.  6-9  is  an  interpolation  ;  vv.  6,  7  a  fragment  of  an 
itinerary  relating  the  death  of  Aaron,  and  vv.  8,  9  the  separation 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi  to  priestly  functions. 


48    Old  Testament   Introduction 

to  be  exterminated  (xiii.).  The  holiness  of  the 
people  is  to  be  maintained  by  their  abstaining  from 
the  flesh  of  certain  prohibited  animals  1  xiv.  1-2 1, 
and  the  sacred  dues  such  as  the  tithes,  xiv.  22-29, 
and  firstlings,  xv.  19-23,  are  regulated.  Religion 
is  to  express  itself  in  generous  consideration  for  the 
poor  and  the  slave/ xv.  1-18,  as  well  as  in  the  three 
annual  pilgrimages  to  celebrate  the  passover,  the 
feast  of  weeks,  and  the  feast  of  booths,  xvi.  1-17. 

(b)  Besides  the  local  courts  there  is  to  be  a 
supreme  central  tribunal,  xvi.  18-20,  xvii.  8-13. 
No  idolatrous  symbols  are  to  be  used  in  the  Jehovah 
worship  ;  idolatry  is  to  be  punished  with  death, 
xvi.  21-xvii.  7.  The  character  and  duties  of  the 
king  are  defined,  and  his  obligation  to  rule  in 
accordance  with  the  spirit  of  Israel's  religion,  xvii. 
14-20  ;  the  revenues  and  privileges  of  the  Levi- 
tical  priests  are  regulated  and  the  high  position  and 
function  of  the  prophets  are  defined  in  opposition  to 
the  representatives  of  superstition  in  heathen  reli- 
gion (xviii.).  Following  the  laws  affecting  the 
officers  of  the  theocracy  are  laws — which  finefy 
temper  justice  with  mercy — concerning  homicide, 
murder  and  false  witness2  (xix.).  A  similar  com- 
bination of  humanity  and  sternness  is  illustrated 
by  the  laws — whether  practicable  or  not — regulat- 
ing the  usages  of  war,  xx.,  with  which  may  be 
taken  xxi.  10-14. 

1  This  section  is  not  altogether  in  the  spirit  of  Deut.  and  is 
found  with  variations  in  Lev.  xi.  If  it  is  not  a  late  insertion  in 
Deut.  from  Lev.,  probably  both  have  borrowed  it  from  an  older 
code. 

2  Kindred  in  theme  is  xxi.  1-9,  dealing  with  the  expiation  of  an 
uncertain  murder. 


Deuteronomy  49 

(c)  The  laws  in  xxi-xxv.  are  of  a  more  miscellan- 
eous nature  and  deal  with  various  phases  of  domes- 
tic and  social  life— such  as  the  punishment  of  the 
unfilial  son,  the  duty  of  neighbourliness,  the  pro- 
tection of  mother-birds,  the  duty  of  taking  precau- 
tions in  building,  the  rights  of  a  husband,  the 
punishment  of  adultery  and  seduction,  the  ex- 
clusion of  certain  classes  from  the  privilege  of 
worship,  the  cleanliness  of  the  camp,  the  duty  of 
humanity  to  a  runaway  slave,  the  prohibition  of 
religious  prostitution,  the  regulation  of  divorce,  the 
duty  of  humanity  to  the  stranger,  the  fatherless  and 
the  widow,  and  of  kindness  to  animals,  the  duty 
of  a  surviving  brother  to  marry  his  brother's  child- 
less widow,  the  prohibition  of  immodesty,  etc. 

By  two  simple  ceremonies,  one  of  thanksgiving, 
the  other  a  confession  of  faith,  Israel  acknowledges 
her  obligations  to  Jehovah1  (xxvi.),  and  the  great 
speech  ends  with  a  very  impressive  peroration  in 
which  blessings  of  many  kinds  are  promised  to 
obedience,  while,  with  a  much  greater  elaboration 
of  detail,  disaster  is  announced  as  the  penalty  of 
disobedience  (xxviii.).  In  chs.  xxix.,  xxx.,  which 
are  of  a  supplementary  nature,  Moses  briefly  re- 
minds the  people  of  the  goodness  of  their  God,  and 
warns  them  of  the  disaster  into  which  infidelity  will 
plunge  them,  though — so  gracious  is  Jehovah — 
penitence  will  be  followed  by  restoration.     In  a 

1  Ch.  xxvii.,  which,  besides  being  in  the  3rd  person,  interrupts 
the  connection  between  xxvi.  and  xxviii.,  can  hardly  have  formed 
part  of  the  original  book.  It  prescribes  the  inscription  of  the 
law  on  stones,  its  ratification  by  the  people,  and  the  curses  to  be 
uttered  by  the  Levites. 

4 


5<o   Old  Testament   Introduction 

powerful  conclusion  he  sets  before  them  life  and 
death  as  the  recompense  of  obedience  and  disobedi- 
ence, and  pleads  with  them  to  choose  life. 

The  speeches  are  over,  and  the  narrative  of  the 
Pentateuch  is  resumed.  In  a  few  parting  words, 
Moses  encourages  the  people  and  his  successor 
Joshua,  who,  in  xxxi.  14,  15,  23,  receives  his  divine 
commission,  and  finally  gives  instructions  for  the 
reading  of  the  law  every  seven  years,  xxxi.  1-13. 
Verses  16-30  (except  23)  constitute  the  preface  to 
the  fine  poem  known  as  the  Song  of  Moses,  xxxii. 
1-43,  which  celebrates,  in  bold  and  striking  words, 
the  loving  faithfulness  of  Jehovah  to  His  apostate 
and  ungrateful  people.1  This  poem,  after  a  few 
verses  in  which  Moses  finally  commends  the  law  to 
Israel  and  himself  receives  the  divine  command  to 
ascend  Nebo  and  die,  is  followed  by  another  known 
as  the  Blessing  of  Moses  (xxxiii.).  In  this  poem, 
which  ought  to  be  compared  with  Gen.  xlix., 
the  various  tribes  are  separately  characterized  in 
language  which  is  often  simply  a  description  2  rather 

1  The  song  must  be  much  later  than  Moses,  as  it  describes 
the  effect,  v.  15*}".,  on  Israel  of  the  transition  from  the  nomadic 
life  of  the  desert,  v.  10,  to  the  settled  agricultural  life  of  Canaan, 
and  expressly  regards  the  days  of  the  exodus  as  long  past,  v.  7. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  the  enemy  from  whom  in  vv.  34~43. 
the  singer  hopes  to  be  divinely  delivered  are  the  Assyrians  or 
the  Babylonians  :  on  the  whole,  probably  the  latter.  In  that 
case,  the  poem  would  be  exilic  ;  v.  36  too  seems  to  presuppose 
the  exile. 

2  These  descriptions — to  say  nothing  of  v.  4  (Moses  commended 
us  a  law) — are  conclusive  proof  that  the  poem  was  composed 
long  after  Moses'  time.  Reuben  is  dwindling  in  numbers, 
Simeon  has  already  disappeared  (as  not  yet  in  Gen.  xlix).  Judah 
is  in  at  least  temporary  distress,  and  the  banner  tribe  is  Ephraim, 
whose   glory  and   power  are  eloquently   described,   vv.    13-17. 


Deuteronomy  5 1 

than  a  benediction,  and  the  poem  concludes  with  an 
enthusiastic  expression  of  joy  over  Israel's  incom- 
parable God.  The  book  ends  with  an  account  of 
the  death  of  Moses  (xxxiv.). 

Deuteronomy  is  one  of  the  epoch-making  books 
of  the  world.  It  not  only  profoundly  affected 
much  of  the  subsequent  literature  of  the  Hebrews, 
but  it  left  a  deep  and  abiding  mark  upon  Hebrew 
religion,  and  through  it  upon  Christianity. 

The  problem  of  its  origin  is  as  interesting  as  the 
romance  which  attached  to  its  discovery  in  the 
reign  of  Josiah  (621  B.C.).  Generally  speaking,  the 
book  claims  to  be  the  valedictory  address  of  Moses 
to  Israel.  But  even  a  superficial  examination  is 
enough  to  show  that  its  present  form,  at  any  rate, 
was  not  due  to  Moses.  The  very  first  words  of  the 
book  represent  the  speeches  as  being  delivered  "  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Jordan  " — an  important  point 
obscured  by  the  erroneous  translation  of  A.V.  Now 
Moses  was  on  the  east  side,  and  obviously  the  writer 
to  whom  the  east  side  was  the  other  side,  must 
himself  have  been  on  the  west  side.  The  law  pro- 
viding for  the  battlement  on  the  roof  of  a  new 
house,  xxii.  8,  shows  that  the  book  contemplates 
the  later  settled  life  of  cities  or  villages,  not  the 
nomadic  life  of  tents  ;  and  the  very  significant  law 
concerning  the  boundary  marks  which  had  been  set 
up  by  "  those  of  the  olden  time,"  xix.  14,  is  proof  con- 

Levi  appears  to  be  thoroughly  organized  and  held  in  great 
respect,  vv.  8-n.  The  poem  must  have  been  written  at  a  time 
when  northern  Israel  was  enjoying  high  prosperity,  probably 
during  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  II  and  before  the  advent  of  Amos 

(770  B.C.  ?). 


52   Old  Testament  Introduction 

elusive  that  the  people  had  been  settled  for  gener- 
ationsMn  the  land. 

The^negative  conclusion  is  that  the  book  is  not, 
in  its  present  form,  from  the  hand  of  Moses,  but  is 
a  product,  at  least  several  generations  later,  of  the 
settled  life  of  the  people.  But  it  is  at  once  asked, 
Do  the  opening  words  of  the  book  not  commit  us 
expressly  to  a  belief  in  the  Mosaic  authorship,  in 
spite  of  the  resultant  difficulties  ?  Is  it  not  ex- 
plicitly said  that  these  words  are  his  words  ?  The 
answer  to  this  question  lies  in  the  literary  freedom 
claimed  by  all  ancient  historians.  Thucydides, 
one  of  the  most  scrupulous  historians  who  ever 
wrote,  states,  in  an  interesting  passage,  the  principles 
on  which  he  composed  his  speeches  (i.  22)  :  "As 
to  the  various  speeches  made  on  the  eve  of  the  war 
or  in  its  course,  I  have  found  it  difficult  to  retain  a 
memory  of  the  precise  words  which  I  heard  spoken  ; 
and  so  it  was  with  those  who  brought  me  reports. 
But  I  have  made  the  persons  say  what  it  seemed 
to  me  most  opportune  for  them  to  say  in  view  of 
each  situation  ;  at  the  same  time  I  have  adhered 
as  closely  as  possible  to  the  general  sense  of  what 
was  actually  said."  This  statement  represents  the 
general  practice  of  the  ancient  world  ;  the  condi- 
tions of  historical  veracity  were  satisfied  if  the 
speech  represented  the  spirit  of  the  speaker.  And 
this,  as  we  shall  see,  is  eminently  true  of  the  book 
of  Deuteronomy,  which  is  an  eloquent  exposition 
and  application  of  principles  fundamental  to  the 
Mosaic  religion.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  be  urged 
that  the  book  contains  deliberate  assertions  that  it 
was  written  by  Moses — e.g.,  "  when  Moses  had  made 


Deuteronomy  5  3 

an  end  of  writing  the  words  of  this  law  in  a  book," 
xxxi.  24,  cf.  9— the  simple  reply  is  that  this  very 
phrase,  "  all  the  words  of  this  law,"  is  elsewhere  used 
of  a  body  of  law  so  small  that  it  can  be  inscribed 
upon  the  memorial  stones  of  the  altar  to  be  set  up  on 
Mount  Ebal,  xxvii.  3. 

We  are  free,  then,  to  consider  the  date  of  Deuter- 
onomy by  an  examination  of  the  internal  evidence. 
The  latest  possible  date  for  the  book,  as  a  whole, 
is  determined  by  the  story  of  its  discovery  in 
621  B.C.  (2  Kings  xxii.,  xxiii.).  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  book  then  discovered  by  the  priest 
Hilkiah,  and  read  by  the  chancellor  before  the  king, 
was  Deuteronomy.  It  is  called  the  book  of  the 
covenant  (2  Kings  xxiii.  2),  but  it  clearly  cannot 
have  been  the  Pentateuch.  For  one  thing,  that 
was  much  too  long  ;  the  book  discovered  was  short 
enough  to  have  been  read  twice  in  one  day  (2  Kings 
xxii.  8,  10).  And  again,  the  swift  and  terrible  im- 
pression made  by  it  could  not  have  been  made  by 
a  book  so  heterogeneous  in  its  contents  and  con- 
taining romantic  narratives  such  as  the  patriarchal 
stories.  Nor  again  can  the  discovered  book  have 
been  Exodus  xxi. -xxiii.,  though  that  is  also  called 
the  book  of  the  covenant  (Exod.  xxiv.  7)  ;  for  some 
of  the  most  important  points  in  the  succeeding  re- 
formation are  not  touched  in  that  book  at  all.  It 
is  clear  from  the  narrative  in  2  Kings  xxii.  ff.  that 
the  book  must  have  been  a  law  book  ;  no  other 
meets  the  facts  of  the  case  but  Deuteronomy,  and 
this  meets  them  completely.  Point  for  point,  the 
details  of  the  reformation  are  paralleled  by  in- 
junctions in  Deuteronomy — notably  the  abolition 


54   Old  Testament   Introduction 

of  idolatry,  the  concentration  of  the  worship  at  a 
single  sanctuary  (xii.),  the  abolition  of  witchcraft 
and  star-worship,  and  the  celebration  of  the  pass- 
over.  Some  of  these  enactments  are  found  in  other 
parts  of  the  Pentateuch,  but  Deuteronomy  is  the 
only  code  in  which  they  are  all  combined.  621  B.C. 
then  is  the  latest  possible  date  for  the  composition 
of  Deuteronomy. 

It  is  possible,  however,  to  fix  the  date  more  pre- 
cisely. The  most  remarkable  element  in  the  legis- 
lation is  its  repeated  and  emphatic  demand  for  the 
centralization  of  worship  in  "  the  place  which 
Jehovah  your  God  shall  choose  out  of  all  your  tribes 
to  put  His  name  there,"  xii.  5.  Only  by  such  a 
centralization  could  the  Jehovah  worship  be  con- 
trolled which,  at  the  numerous  shrines  scattered 
over  the  country,  was  being  stained  and  confused 
by  the  idolatrous  practices  which  Israel  had  learned 
from  the  Canaanites.  This  demand  is  recognized 
as  something  new,  xii.  8.  In  the  ninth  and  eighth 
centuries,  when  the  prophetic  narratives  of  Genesis 
were  written,1  these  shrines,  which  were  the  scenes 
of  an  enthusiastic  worship,  are  lovingly  traced  back 
to  an  origin  in  patriarchal  times.  As  late  as  750- 
735  B.C.,  Amos  and  Hosea,  though  they  deplore  the 
excesses  which  characterized  those  sanctuaries,  and 
regard  their  worship  as  largely  immoral,  do  not 
regard  the  sanctuaries  themselves  as  actually 
illegal ;  consequently  Deuteronomy  must  be  later 
than  735.  But  the  situation  was  even  then  so 
serious  that  it  must  soon  have  occurred  to  men  of 
practical  piety  to  devise  plans  of  reform,  and  that 

1  See  pp.  71,  72. 


Deuteronomy  5  5 

the  only  real  remedy  lay  in  striking  the  evil  at  its 
roots,  i.e.  in  abolishing  the  local  shrines.  The  first 
important  blow  appears  to  have  been  struck  by 
Hezekiah,  who,  possibly  under  the  influence  of 
Isaiah,  is  said  to  have  removed  the  high  places 
(2  Kings  xviii.  4),  and  the  movement  must  have 
been  greatly  helped  by  the  immunity  which  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem  enjoyed  during  the  invasion  of 
Judah  by  Sennacherib  in  701  B.C.  But  the  singular 
thing  is  that  no  appeal  was  made  in  this  reform- 
ation to  a  book,  as  was  made  in  621,  and  as  it  is 
natural  to  suppose  would  have  been  made,  had  such 
a  book  been  in  existence.  Somewhere  then  between 
Hezekiah  and  Josiah  we  may  suppose  the  book  to 
have  been  composed. 

The  most  probable  supposition  is  that  the  re- 
formation of  Hezekiah  gave  the  first  impulse  to 
the  legislation  which  afterwards  appeared  as 
Deuteronomy.  But  in  the  terrible  reign  of  his  son 
Manasseh,  the  efforts  of  the  reformers  met  with 
violent  and  bloody  opposition.  Judah  was  under 
the  iron  heel  of  Assyria,  and,  to  the  average  mind, 
this  would  prove  the  superiority  of  the  Assyrian 
gods.  Judah  and  her  king,  Manasseh,  would  seek 
in  their  desperation  to  win  the  favour  of  the  Oriental 
pantheon,  and  this  no  doubt  explains  the  idolatry 
and  worship  of  the  host  of  heaven  which  flourished 
during  his  reign  even  within  the  temple  itself.  It 
was  just  such  a  crisis  as  this  that  would  call  out  the 
fierce  condemnation  of  the  idolatrous  high  places 
which  characterizes  Deuteronomy  (cf.  xii.)  and 
create  the  imperative  demand  for  such  a  control  of 
the  worship  as  was  only  possible  by  centralizing 


56   Old  Testament   Introduction 

it  at  Jerusalem.    During  this  period,  too,  such  a 
book  may  very  well  have  been  hidden  away  in  the 
temple  by  some  sorrowing  heart  that  hoped  for 
better  days.     It  is  improbable  in  itself  (cf.  xviii. 
6-8),  and  unjust  to  the  narrative  in  2  Kings  xxii., 
xxiii.,  to  suppose  that  the  book  was  written  by  those 
who  pretended  to  find  it.     It  was  really  lost ;  had  it 
been  written  during  the  earlier  part  of  Josiah's 
reign,  there  was  nothing  to  hinder  its  being  published 
at  once.     In  all  probability,  then,  the  book  was  in 
the  main  written   and  lost    during  the  reign   of 
Manasseh  (circa  660  B.C.).     It  has  been  observed 
that  in  some  sections  the  2nd  pers.  sing,  is  used, 
in  others  the  pi.,   and  that  the  tone  of  the  plural 
passages  is  more  aggressive  than  that  of  the  singu- 
lar ;  the  contrast,  e.g.,  between  xii.  29-31   (thou) 
and  xii.  1-12  (you)  is  unmistakable.    We  might, 
then,  limit  the  conclusion  reached  above  by  saying 
that  the  passages  in  which  a  milder  tone  prevails 
probably  came  from  Hezekiah's  reign,  and  the  more 
aggressive  sections  from  Manasseh's. 

This  date  agrees  with  conclusions  reached  on 
other  grounds  concerning  other  parts  of  the  Penta- 
teuch. The  prophetic  narratives  J  and  E  were 
written  in  or  before  the  eighth  century  B.C.,  the 
priestly  code  (P)  is,  broadly  speaking,  post-exilic.1 
Now  if  it  can  be  proved  that  Deuteronomy  knows 
JE  and  does  not  know  P,  the  natural  inference 
would  be  that  it  falls  between  the  eighth  and  the 
sixth  or  fifth  century.  But  this  can  easily  be 
proved,  for  both  in  its  narrative  and  legislative 
parts,  Deuteronomy  rests  on  JE.      As  an  illustration 

1  See  pp.   72    7$. 


Deuteronomy  5  7 

of  the  former,  cf.  Deuteronomy  xi.  6,  where  only 
Dathan  and  Abiram  are  the  rebels,  not  Korah  as  in 
P  (cf.  Num.  xvi.  12,  25)  ;  as  an  illustration  of  the 
latter,  cf .  the  law  of  slavery  in  Exodus  xxi.  2ff.  with 
that  in  Deuteronomy  xv.  12-18,  which  clearly  rests 
upon  the  older  law,  but  deliberately  gives  a  humaner 
turn  to  it,  extending  its  privileges,  e.g.,  to  the  female 
slave. 

Again  in  many  important  respects  the  legislation 
of  Deuteronomy  either  ignores  or  conflicts  with 
that  of  P.  It  knows  nothing,  e.g.,  of  the  forty-eight 
Levitical  cities  (Num.  xxxv.)  ;  it  regards  the  Levite, 
in  common  with  the  fatherless  and  the  widow,  as 
to  be  found  everywhere  throughout  the  land,  xviii. 
6.  It  knows  nothing  of  the  provision  made  by  P 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  Levite  (Num.  xviii.) ;  it 
commends  him  to  the  charity  of  the  worshippers, 
xiv.  29.  Above  all  it  knows  nothing  of  P's  very 
sharp  and  important  distinction  between  priests 
and  Levites  (Num.  hi.,  iv.) ;  any  Levite  is  qualified 
to  officiate  as  priest  (cf.  the  remarkable  phrase  in 
xviii.  1,  "  the  priests  the  Levites  ").  Deuteronomy 
must,  therefore,  fall  before  P,  as  after  JE. 

A  not  unimportant  question  here  arises  :  What 
precisely  was  the  extent  of  the  book  found  in  621 
B.C.  ?  Certainly  the  legislative  section,  xii.-xxvi., 
xxviii.,  possibly  the  preceding  hortatory  section, 
v.-xi.,  but  in  all  probability  not  the  introductory 
section,  i.  i-iv.  40.  These  three  sections  are  all 
approximately  written  in  the  same  style,  but  i.  1- 
iv.  40  has  more  the  appearance  of  an  attempt  to 
provide  the  legislation  with  a  historical  introduction 
summarizing   the  narrative   of   the  journey  from 


58   Old  Testament   Introduction 

Horeb  to  the  borders  of  the  promised  land.  Cer- 
tain passages,  e.g.  iv.  27-31,  seem  to  presuppose  the 
exile,  and  thus  suggest  that  the  section  is  later  than 
the  book  as  a  whole.  The  discrepancy  between 
ii.  14,  which  represents  the  generation  of  the  exodus 
as  having  died  in  the  wilderness,  and  v.  3ff.  hardly 
makes  for  identity  of  authorship  ;  and  the  similarity 
of  the  superscriptions,  i.  1-5,  and  iv.  44-49,  looks 
as  if  the  sections  i.-iv.  and  v.-xi.  were  originally 
parallel.  Whether  v.-xi.  was  part  of  the  book 
discovered  is  not  so  certain.  Much  of  the  finest 
religious  teaching  of  Deuteronomy  is  to  be  found 
in  this  section  ;  but,  besides  being  disproportionately 
long  for  an  introduction,  it  repeatedly  demands 
obedience  to  the  "  statutes  and  judgments,"  which, 
however,  are  not  actually  announced  till  ch.  xii.  ; 
it  seems  more  like  an  addition  prefixed  by  one  who 
had  the  commandments  in  xii.-xxvi.  before  him. 
Ch.  xxvii.,  which  is  narrative  and  interrupts  the 
speech  of  Moses,  xxvi,  xxviii.,  besides  in  part  anti- 
cipating xxviii.  i5ff.,  cannot  have  formed  part  of 
the  original  Deuteronomy.  On  the  other  hand, 
xxviii.  was  certainly  included  in  it,  as  it  must  have 
been  precisely  the  threats  contained  in  this  chapter 
that  produced  such  consternation  in  Josiah  when 
he  heard  the  book  read  (2  Kings  xxii.).  The  horta- 
tory section  that  follows  the  legislation  (xxix.,  xxx.), 
is  also  probably  late,  as  the  exile  appears  to  be  pre- 
supposed, xxix.  28,  xxx.  1-3.  On  this  supposition, 
too,  the  references  to  the  legislation  as  "  this  book," 
xxix.  20,  21,  xxx.  10,  are  most  naturally  explained. 

The  publication  of  the  book  of  Deuteronomy  was 


Deuteronomy  5  9 

nothing  less  than  a  providence  in  the  development 
of  Hebrew  religion.  It  was  accompanied,  of  course, 
by  incidental  and  perhaps  inevitable  evils.  By  its 
centralization  of  worship  at  the  Jerusalem  temple, 
it  tended  to  rob  life  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
of  those  religious  interests  and  sanctions  which  had 
received  their  satisfaction  from  the  local  sanctuaries  ; 
and  by  its  attempt  to  regulate  by  written  statute  the 
religious  life  of  the  people,  it  probably  contributed 
indirectly  to  the  decline  of  prophecy,  and  started 
Israel  upon  that  fatal  path  by  which  she  ultimately 
became  "  the  people  of  the  book."  But  on  the 
other  hand,  the  service  rendered  to  religion  by 
Deuteronomy  was  incalculable.  The  worship  of 
Jehovah  had  been  powerfully  corrupted  from  two 
sources  ;  on  the  one  hand,  from  the  early  influence 
of  the  Canaanitish  Baal  worship,  practically  a 
nature-worship,  which  set  morality  at  defiance, 
xxiii.  18  ;  and  on  the  other,  from  her  powerful 
Assyrian  conquerors.  Idolatry  not  only  covered 
the  whole  land,  it  had  penetrated  the  temple  itself 
(2  Kings  xxiii.  6).  The  cause  of  true  religion  was 
at  stake.  There  had  been  sporadic  attempts  at 
reform,  but  Deuteronomy,  for  the  first  time,  struck 
at  the  root  by  rendering  illegal  the  worship — nomin- 
ally a  Jehovah,  but  practically  a  Baal  worship — 
which  was  practised  at  the  local  sanctuaries. 

Again  Deuteronomy  rendered  a  great  service  to 
religion,  by  translating  its  large  spirit  into  demands 
which  could  be  apprehended  of  the  common  people. 
The  book  is  splendidly  practical,  and  formed  a 
perhaps  not  unnecessary  supplement  to  the  teach- 
ing of  the  prophets.    Society  needs  to  have  its 


60   Old  Testament   Introduction 

ideals  embodied  in  suggestions  and  commands,  and 
this  is  done  in  Deuteronomy.  The  writers  of  the 
book  legislate  with  the  fervour  of  the  prophet,  so 
that  it  is  not  so  much  a  collection  of  laws  as  "  a 
catechism  of  religion  and  morals."  Doubtless  the 
prophets  had  done  the  deepest  thing  of  all  by  in- 
sisting on  the  new  heart  and  the  return  to  Jehovah, 
but  they  had  offered  no  programme  of  practical  re- 
form. Just  such  a  programme  is  supplied  by 
Deuteronomy,  and  yet  it  is  saved  from  the  ex- 
ternalism  of  being  merely  a  religious  programme 
by  its  tender  and  uniform  insistence  upon  the  duty 
of  loving  Jehovah  with  the  whole  heart. 

The  love  of  Jehovah  to  Israel — love  altogether 
undeserved,    ix.    5,    and    manifested    throughout 
history    in    ways    without    number — demands    a 
human  response.     Israel  must  love  Him  with  an 
uncompromising  affection,  for  He  is  one  and  there 
is  none  else,  and  she  must  express  that  love  for  the 
God  who  is  a  spirit  invisible,  iv.  12,  by  deeds  of 
affection  towards  the  creatures  whom  God  has  made, 
even  to  the  beasts  and  the  birds,  xxv.  4,  but  most 
of  all  to  the  needy — the  stranger,  the  Levite,  the 
fatherless  and  the  widow.     Again  and  again  these 
are  commended  by  definite  and  practical  sugges- 
tions  to   the   generosity   of   the   people,   and   this 
generosity  is  expected  to  express  itself  particularly 
on  occasions  of  public  worship.     Religion  is  felt  to 
be  the  basis  of  morality  and  of  all  social  order,  and 
therefore,  even  in  the  legislation  proper  (xii.-xxviii.), 
to  say  nothing  of  the  fine  hortatory  introduction 
(v.-xi.),  its  claims  and  nature  are  presented  first. 
The   book   abounds   in   profound   and  memorable 


Deuteronomy  6 1 

statements  touching  the  essence  of  religion.  It 
answers  the  question,  What  doth  thy  God  require 
of  thee  ?  x.  12.  It  reminds  the  people  that  man 
lives  not  by  bread  alone,  viii.  3.  It  knows  that 
wealth  and  success  tend  to  beget  indifference  to  re- 
ligion, viii.  i3ff.,  and  that  chastisement,  when  it 
comes,  is  sent  in  fatherly  love,  viii.  5  ;  and  it  presses 
home  upon  the  sluggish  conscience  the  duty  of 
kindness  to  the  down-trodden  and  destitute,  with 
a  sweet  and  irresistible  reasonableness — "  Love  the 
sojourner,  for  ye  were  sojourners  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,"  x.  19. 


Joshua 


The  book  of  Joshua  is  the  natural  complement 
of  the  Pentateuch.  Moses  is  dead,  but  the  people 
are  on  the  verge  of  the  promised  land,  and  the  story 
of  early  Israel  would  be  incomplete,  did  it  not 
record  the  conquest  of  that  land  and  her  establish- 
ment upon  it.  The  divine  purpose  moves  restlessly 
on,  until  it  is  accomplished  ;  so  "  after  the  death  of 
Moses,  Jehovah  spake  to  Joshua,"  i.  i. 

The  book  falls  naturally  into  three  divisions  : 
(a)  the  conquest  of  Canaan  (i.-xii.),  (b)  the  settle- 
ment of  the  land  (xiii.-xxii.),  (c)  the  last  words  and 
death  of  Joshua  (xxiii.,  xxiv.).  This  period  seems 
to  be  better  known  than  that  of  the  wilderness 
wanderings,  and,  especially  throughout  the  first 
twelve  chapters,  the  story  moves  forward  with  a 
firm  tread.  On  the  death  of  Moses,  Joshua  assumes 
the  leadership,  and  makes  preparations  for  the 
advance  (i.).  After  sending  men  to  Jericho  to  spy 
and  report  upon  the  land  (ii.),  the  people  solemnly 
cross  the  Jordan,  preceded  by  the  ark  (iii.)  ;  and, 
to  commemorate  the  miracle  by  which  their  passage 
had  been  facilitated,  memorial  stones  are  set  up 
(iv.).  After  circumcision  had  been  imposed,  v. 
1-9,  the  passover  celebrated,  v.  10-12,  and  Joshua 
strengthened  by  a  vision,  v.  13-15,  the  people 
assault    and    capture    Jericho    (vi.).     This    initial 

62 


Joshua 


63 


success  was  followed  by  a  sharp  and  unexpected 
disaster  at  Ai,  for  which  Achan,  by  his  violation  of 
the  law  of  the  ban,  was  held  guilty  and  punished 
with  death  (vii.).  A  renewed  assault  upon  Ai 
was  this  time  successful1  (viii.).  Fear  of  Israel 
induced  the  powerful  Gibeonite  clan  to  make  a 
league  with  the  conquerors  (ix.).  Success  continued 
to  remain  with  Israel,  so  that  south  (x.)  and  north, 
xi.  1-15,  the  arms  of  Israel  were  victorious,  xi.  16- 
xii. 

Much  of  the  land  remained  still  unconquered, 
but  arrangements  were  made  for  its  ideal  distribu- 
tion. The  two  and  a  half  tribes  had  already  re- 
ceived their  inheritance  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  the 
rest  of  the  land  was  allotted  on  the  west  to  the  re- 
maining tribes.  Judah's  boundaries  and  cities  are 
first  and  most  exhaustively  given ;  then  come 
Manasseh  and  Ephraim,  with  meagre  records, 
followed  by  Benjamin,  which  again  is  exhaustive, 
then  by  Simeon,  Zebulon,  Issachar,  Asher,  Naphtali 
and  Dan  (xiii.-xix.).  Three  cities  on  either  side  of 
Jordan  were  then  set  apart  as  cities  of  refuge  for 
innocent  homicides,  and  for  the  Levites  forty-eight 
cities  with  their  pasture  land,  xx.  i-xxi.  42.  As 
Israel  was  now  in  possession  of  the  land  in  accordance 
with  the  divine  promise,  xxi.  43-45,  Joshua  dis- 
missed the  two  and  a  half  tribes  to  their  eastern 
home  with  commendation    and  exhortation,  xxii. 


1  The  book  of  Joshua  describes  only  the  southern  and  northern 
campaigns ;  it  gives  no  details  concerning  the  conquest  of 
Central  Palestine.  This  omission  is  apparently  due  to  the 
Deuteronomic  redactor,  who,  in  place  of  the  account  itself,  gives 
a  brief  idealization  of  its  results  in  viii.  30-35. 


64   Old  Testament   Introduction 

1-8.  Incurring  the  severe  displeasure  of  the  other 
tribes  by  building  what  was  supposed  to  be  a 
schismatic  altar,  they  explained  that  it  was  intended 
only  as  a  memorial  and  as  a  witness  of  their  kinship 
with  Israel,  xxii.  9-34. 

The  book  concludes  with  two  farewell  speeches, 
the  first  (xxiii.)  couched  in  general,  the  second 
xxiv.  1-23,  in  somewhat  more  particular  terms,  in 
which  Joshua  reminds  the  people  of  the  goodness 
of  their  God,  warns  them  against  idolatry  and  inter- 
marriage with  the  natives  of  the  land,  and  urges 
upon  them  the  peril  of  compromise  and  the  duty  of 
rendering  Jehovah  a  whole-hearted  service.  The 
people  solemnly  pledge  themselves  to  obedience, 
xxiv.  23-28.  Then  Joshua's  death  and  burial 
are  recorded,  and  past  was  linked  to  present  in  the 
burial  of  Joseph's  bones  (Gen.  1.  25)  at  last  in  the 
promised  land,  xxiv.  29-33. 

The  documentary  sources  which  lie  at  the  basis 
of  the  Pentateuch  are  present,  though  in  different 
proportions,  in  the  book  of  Joshua,  and  in  their  main 
features  are  easily  recognizable.  The  story  of  the 
conquest  (i.-xii.)  is  told  by  the  prophetic  document 
JE,  while  the  geographical  section  on  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  land  (xiii.-xxii.)  belongs  in  the  main  to 
the  priestly  document  P.  Joshua,  in  common  with 
Judges,  Samuel  (in  part)  and  Kings,  has  also  been 
V  very  plainly  subjected  to  a  redaction  known  to 
criticism  as  the  Deuteronomic,  because  its  phraseo- 
logy and  point  of  view  are  those  of  Deuteronomy. 
This  redactional  element,  which,  to  any  one  fresh 
from  the  study  of  Deuteronomy,  is  very  easy  to 


Joshua  65 


detect,  is  more  or  less  conspicuous  in  all  of  the 
first  twelve  chapters,  but  it  is  especially  so  in 
chs.  i.  and  xxiii.,  and  it  would  be  well  worth  the 
student's  while  to  read  these  two  chapters  very 
carefully,  in  order  to  familiarize  himself  with  the 
nature  of  the  influence  of  the  Deuteronomic  re- 
daction upon  the  older  prophetico-historical  ma- 
terial. Very  significant,  e.g.,  are  such  phrases  as 
"  the  land  which  Jehovah  your  God  giveth  you  to 
possess,"  i.  11,  Deuteronomy  xii.  1  :  equally  so  is 
the  emphasis  upon  the  law,  i.  7,  xxiii.  6,  and  the 
injunction  to  "  love  Jehovah  your  God,"  xxiii.  11. 
The  most  serious  effect  of  the  Deuteronomic  in- 
fluence has  been  to  present  the  history  rather  from  ' 
an  ideal  than  from  a  strictly  historical  point  of 
view.  According  to  the  redaction,  e.g.,  the  con- 
quest of  Canaan  was  entirely  effected  within  one 
generation  and  under  Joshua,  whereas  it  was  not 
completely  effected  till  long  after  Joshua's  death  : 
indeed  the  oldest  source  frankly  admits  that  in  many 
districts  it  was  never  thoroughly  effected  at  all 
(Jud.  i.  27-36).  A  typical  illustration  of  the  Deu- 
teronomic attitude  to  the  history  is  to  be  found 
in  the  statement  that  Joshua  obliterated  the  people 
of  Gezer,  x.  33,  which  directly  contradicts  the  older 
statement  that  Israel  failed  to  drive  them  out,  xvi. 
10.  The  Deuteronomist  is,  in  reality,  not  a  historian 
but  a  moralist,  interpreting  the  history  and  the 
forces,  divine  as  well  as  human,  that  were  moulding 
it.  To  him  the  conquest  was  really  complete  in  the 
generation  of  Joshua,  as  by  that  time  the  factors 
were  all  at  work  which  would  ultimately  compel 
success.    The  persistency  of  the  Deuteronomic  in- 

5 


66    Old  Testament  Introduction 

fluence,  even  long  after  the  priestly  code  was 
written,  is  proved  by  xx.  4-6,  which,  though  em- 
bodied in  a  priestly  passage,  is  in  the  spirit  of 
Deuteronomy  (cf.  Deut.  xix.).  As  this  passage  is 
not  found  in  the  Septuagint,  it  is  probably  as  late 
as  the  third  century  B.C. 

P  is  very  largely  represented.  Its  presence  is 
recognized,  as  usual,  by  its  language,  its  point  of 
view,  and  its  dependence  upon  other  parts  of  the 
Pentateuch,  demonstrably  priestly.  While  in  the 
older  sources,  e.g.,  it  is  Joshua  who  divides  the  land, 
xviii.  10,  in  P  not  only  is  Eleazar  the  priest  associated 
with  him  as  Aaron  with  Moses  (Exod.  viii.  5,  16), 
but  he  is  even  named  before  him  (xiv.  1,  cf.  Num. 
xxxiv.  17).  It  is  naturally  also  this  document 
which  records  the  first  passover  in  the  promised 
land,  v.  10-12.  The  cities  of  refuge  and  the  Levi- 
tical  cities  are  set  apart  (xx.,  xxi.)  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  prescribed  in  a  priestly  chapter  of 
Numbers  (xxxv.).  The  prominence  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin  in  the  allocation  of  the  land  is  also  signi- 
ficant. The  section  on  the  memorial  altar,  xxii. 
9-34,  apparently  belonging  to  a  later  stratum  of  P, 
is  clearly  stamped  as  priestly  by  its  whole  temper — 
its  formality,  v.  14,  its  representation  of  the  "  con- 
gregation "  as  acting  unanimously,  v.  16,  its  repeti- 
tions and  stereotyped  phraseology,  and  by  the 
prominence  it  gives  to  "  Phinehas  the  son  of  Eleazar 
the  priest,"  vv.  30-32.  That  this  document  in 
Joshua  was  partly  narrative  so  well  as  statistical  is 
also  suggested  by  its  very  brief  account  of  Achan's 
sin  in  ch.  vii.,  and  of  the  treachery  and  punishment 
of   the   Gibeonites,   ix.    17-21 — an   account   which 


Joshua 


67 


may  well  have  been  fuller  in  the  original  form  of 
the  document. 

The  most  valuable  part  of  Joshua  for  historical 
purposes  is  naturally  that  which  comes  from  the 
prophetic  document,  which  is  the  oldest.  It  is  here 
that  the  interesting  and  concrete  detail  lies,  notably 
in  chs.  i.-xii.,  but  also  scattered  throughout  the  rest 
of  the  book  in  some  extremely  important  fragments, 
which  indicate  how  severe  and  occasionally  unsuc- 
cessful was  the  struggle  of  Israel  to  gain  a  secure 
footing  upon  certain  parts  of  the  country.1  Many 
of  the  difficulties  revealed  by  a  minute  study  of  i.-^. 
xii.  make  it  absolutely  certain  that  the  prophetic 
document  is  really  composite  (JE),  but  owing  to 
the  thorough  blending  of  the  sources  the  analysis 
is  peculiarly  difficult  and  uncertain.  That  there 
are  various  sources,  however,  admits  of  no  doubt/ 
The  story  of  the  crossing  of  the  Jordan  in  chs. 
hi.,  iv.,  if  we  follow  it  carefully  step  by  step,  is  seen 
to  be  unintelligible  on  the  assumption  that  it  is  a 
unity.  In  iii.  17  all  the  people  are  already  over  the 
Jordan,  but  in  iv.  4,  5,  the  implication  is  that  they 
are  only  about  to  cross.  Ch.  iv.  2  repeats  iii.  12 
almost  word  for  word.  In  iv.  9  the  memorial 
stones  are  to  be  placed  in  the  Jordan,  in  iv.  20  at 
Gilgal.  In  vii.  256,  26a,  Achan  alone  appears  to 
be  stoned,  in  v.  25c  the  family  is  stoned  too.  Ji 
similar  confusion  prevails  in  the  story  of  the  fall  of 
Jericho  (vi.).  In  one  version,  Israel  marches  six 
days  silently  round  the  city,  and  on  the  seventh 
they  shout  at  the  word  of  Joshua  ;  on  the  other,  they 

1  Cf.  xv.  14-19,  63;    xvi.  10;    xvii.  11-18;   xix.  47. 


68    Old  Testament   Introduction 

march  round  seven  times  in  one  day,  and  the  seventh 
time  they  shout  at  the  blast  of  the  trumpet. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  prophetic 
document,  as  we  have  it,  is  composite,  though  there 
can  seldom  be  any  manner  of  certainty  about  the 
ultimate  analysis  into  its  J  and  E  constituents. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  most  of  the  isolated 
notices  of  the  struggle  with  the  Canaanites  scattered 
throughout  xiii.-xxii.  and  repeated  in  Judges  i.  are 
from  J,  while  ch.  xxiv.,  with  its  interest  in  Shechem 
and  Joseph,  and  its  simple  but  significant  state- 
ment, "  They  presented  themselves  before  God 
(Elohim),"  xxiv.  i,  is  almost  entirely  from  E. 

It  used  to  be  maintained,  on  the  strength  of  a 
phrase  in  v.  i — "  until  we  were  passed  over  " — 
that  the  book  of  Joshua  must  have  been  written 
by  a  contemporary.  But  the  true  reading  there  is 
undoubtedly  that  given  by  the  Septuagint — 
until  they  passed  over — which  involves  only  a  very 
slight  change  in  the  Hebrew.  On  what,  then,  do 
the  narratives  of  the  book  really  rest  ?  The  answer 
is  suggested  by  x.  12,  13,  where  the  historian  appeals 
to  the  book  of  Jashar  in  confirmation  of  an  incident 
in  Joshua's  southern  campaign.  Doubtless  the 
whole  battle  was  described  in  one  of  the  war- 
ballads  in  this  famous  collection  (cf.  Jud.  v.),  and 
it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  other  narra- 
tives in  the  book  of  Joshua  similarly  rest  upon 
other  ballads  now  for  ever  lost.  The  capture  of 
Jericho,  e.g.,  may  well  have  been  commemorated  in  a 
stirring  song  which  was  an  inspiration  alike  to  faith 
and  patriotism. 

If,  however,  it  be  true  that  the  book  of  Joshua 


Joshua  6  9 


has  thus  a  poetic  basis,  it  is  only  fair  to  remember 
that  its  prose  narratives  must  not  be  treated  as 
bald  historical  annals  ;  they  must  be  interpreted 
in  a  poetic  spirit.  There  is  the  more  reason  to  in- 
sist upon  this,  as  a  later  editor,  by  a  too  inflexible 
literalism,  has  misinterpreted  the  very  passage  from 
the  book  of  Jashar  to  which  we  have  alluded. 
What  the  precise  meanings  o.f  Joshua's  fine  apos- 
trophe to  sun  and  moon  may  be,  is  doubtful — 
whether  a  prayer  for  the  prolongation  of  the  day 
or  rather  perhaps  a  prayer  for  the  sudden  oncoming 
of  darkness.  The  words  mean,  "  Sun,  be  thou 
still,"  and  if  this  be  the  prayer,  it  would  perhaps  be 
answered  by  the  furious  storm  which  followed. 
But,  in  either  case,  the  appeal  to  the  sun  and  moon 
to  lend  their  help  to  Israel  in  her  battles  is  ob- 
viously poetic — a  fine  conception,  but  grotesque  if 
literally  pressed.  This,  however,  is  just  what  has; 
been  done  by  the  editor  who  added  x.  14,  and  thus 
created  a  miracle  out  of  the  bold  but  appropriate 
imagery  of  the  poet.  Similarly  it  is  not  necessary 
to  suppose  that  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down  with- 
out the  striking  of  a  blow  on  the  part  of  Israel,  for 
this  too  may  be  poetry.  It  may  be  just  the  imagin- 
ative way  of  saying  that  no  walls  can  stand  before 
Jehovah  when  He  fights  for  His  people.  That  this  t 
is  the  real  meaning  of  the  story,  and  that  there 
was  more  of  a  struggle  than  the  poetical  narrative 
of  ch.  vi.  would  lead  us  to  believe,  is  made  highly 
probable  by  the  altogether  incidental  but  very  ex- 
plicit statement  in  xxiv.  11,  "  The  men  of  Jericho 
fought  against  you." 
With  its  large  geographical  element  the  book  of 


jo   Old  Testament   Introduction 

Joshua  is  not  particularly  rich  in  scenes  of  direct 
religious  value  ;  yet  the  whole  narrative  is  inspired 
by  a  sublime  faith  in  the  divine  purpose  and  its 
sure  triumph  over  every  obstacle.  In  particular, 
the  story  of  the  Gibeonites  suggests  the  permanent 
obligation  of  reckoning  with  God  in  affairs  of 
national  policy,  ix.  14,  while  Gilgal  is  a  reminder  of 
the  duty  of  formally  commemorating  the  bene- 
ficent providences  of  life  (iii.,  iv.).  The  story  of 
Achan  reveals  the  national  bearings  of  individual 
conduct  and  the  large  and  disastrous  consequences 
of  individual  sin.  The  valedictory  addresses  of 
Joshua  are  touched  by  a  fine  sense  of  the  import- 
ance of  a  grateful  and  uncompromising  fidelity  to 
God.  But  perhaps  the  greatest  thing  in  the  book 
is  the  vision  of  the  heavenly  leader  encouraging 
Joshua  on  the  eve  of  his  perilous  campaign,  v. 
13-15,  a  noble  imagination,  fitted  to  remind  those 
who  are  fighting  the  battles  of  the  Lord  that  they 
are  sustained  and  aided  by  forces  unseen. 


The    Prophetic    and    Priestly 
Documents 

Of  the  three  principal  documents,  J,  E  and  P,  to 
whose  fusion  is  due  the  account  of  Israel's  origin 
and  early  history  contained  in  the  Hexateuch, 
nothing  can  be  known  except  by  inference  ;  but 
within  certain  limits  their  date  and  origin  may  be 
fixed.  In  Genesis,  J  and  E  alike  love  to  trace  the 
sacred  places  of  the  Hebrews  to  some  revelation 
or  incident  in  the  life  of  the  patriarchs.  Now  from 
the  prominence  assigned  to  Hebron  in  J,  together 
with  the  role  assigned  to  Judah  in  the  story  of 
Joseph,  xxxvii.  26,  and  the  special  interest  in 
Judah  displayed  by  Genesis  xxxviii.,  it  may  be 
inferred  that  J  originated  in  Judah  ;  while  the  special 
attention  paid  in  E  to  the  sanctuaries  of  the  northern 
kingdom,  such  as  Shechem  and  Bethel,  is  not  un- 
reasonably held  to  imply  that  E  originated  in 
Israel. 

It  is  impossible  to  assign  more  than  an  approxi- 
mate date  to  the  origin  of  these  documents,  but 
they  can  hardly  be  earlier  than  the  monarchy, 
which  is  clearly  alluded  to  in  Genesis  xxxvi.  31. 
Such  incidental  statements  as  that  the  Canaanite 
was  then  in  the  land,  xii.  6,  xiii.  7,  imply  that  by  the 

71 


72   Old   Testament   Introduction 

author's  time  the  situation  had  changed  ;  and,  as 
their  subjection  was  not  attained  till  the  time  of 
Solomon  (i  Kings  ix.  21)  the  documents  can  hardly 
be  earlier  than  that.  The  sanctuaries  glorified  in 
the  Pentateuch  are  the  very  sanctuaries  at  which 
a  sumptuous  but  misguided  worship  was  practised 
as  late  as  the  eighth  century,  in  the  days  of  Amos 
and  Hosea  (cf.  Amos  iv.  4  ;  Hosea  xii.  11) ;  but, 
generally  speaking,  the  conception  of  God  found 
in  the  prophetic  history,  though  as  robust  and  in- 
tense as  that  of  the  early  prophets,  is  more  primi- 
tive. It  is  not  afraid  of  anthropomorphisms 
(Gen.  hi.  8  ;  Exod.  iv.  24),  and  theophanies,  and  it 
has  not  very  clearly  grasped  the  idea  that  God  is 
spirit.  On  these  grounds  alone  it  would  not  be 
unfair  to  place  the  prophetic  documents  somewhere 
between  Solomon  and  Amos.  J  probably  belongs 
to  the  ninth  century,  and  E,  which,  as  we  saw 
reason  to  believe,  was  later,  to  the  eighth. 

P  takes  us  into  a  totally  different  world.  The 
witchery  of  the  prophetic  documents  has  disap- 
peared ;  poetry  has  given  place  to  legislation, 
theophany  to  ritual,  religion  to  theology.  From 
the  late  historical  books,  such  as  Ezra-Nehemiah, 
we  learn  that  legalism  dominated  post-exilic  reli- 
gion to  an  extent  out  of  all  proportion  to  what 
can  be  proved,  or  what  is  probable,  for  pre-exilic 
times  ;  and  it  would  be  natural  to  suppose  that 
another  writing,  such  as  P,  dominated  by  precisely 
the  same  spirit,  is  a  product  of  the  same  time.  This 
supposition  becomes  a  practical  certainty  in  the 
light  of  two  or  three  facts.  Firstly,  in  not  a  few 
respects  P  is  at  variance  with  the  legislative  pro- 


Prophetic  and  Priestly  Documents  7  3 

gramme  drawn  up  by  the  exilic  prophet  Ezekiel 
(xl.-xlviii.).  Now  if  P  had  been  in  existence,  such 
a  programme  would  have  been  unnecessary,  and, 
in  any  case,  Ezekiel  would  hardly  have  ventured  to 
contradict  a  code  which  enjoyed  so  venerable  a 
sanction  and  bore  the  honoured  name  of  Moses.  It 
is  easier  to  suppose  that  EzekiePs  programme  is  a 
tentative  sketch,  which  was  modified  and  improved 
upon  by  the  authors  of  P.  Again  there  was  every 
inducement  during  and  immediately  after  the  exile 
to  formulate  definitely  the  ritual  practice  of  pre-exilic 
times,  and  to  modify  it  in  the  direction  of  existing 
or  future  needs.  So  long  as  the  temple  stood, 
custom  could  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  the  ritual 
tradition,  but  the  violent  breach  with  their  country 
and  their  past  would  impose  upon  the  exiles  the 
necessity  of  securing  those  traditions  in  permanent 
and  accessible  form.  P  is  therefore  referred  almost 
unanimously  by  scholars  to  the  exilic  and  early 
post-exilic  age,  and  may  be  roughly  put  about 
500  B.C. 

The  documents  J,  E  and  P,  which,  for  conveni- 
ence, we  have  treated  as  if  each  were  the  product 
of  a  single  pen,  represent  in  reality  movements 
which  extended  over  decades  and  even  cen- 
turies. The  Jehovist,  e.g.,  who  traces  the  descent 
of  shepherds,  musicians,  and  workers  in  metal 
to  antediluvian  times  (Gen.  iv.  19-22),  cannot 
be  the  Jehovist  who  told  the  story  of  the  Flood, 
which  interrupted  the  continuity  of  human  life. 
These  distinctions  are  known  to  criticism  as  J1, 
J2,  etc.  ;  but,  though  they  stand  for  undoubted 
literary  facts,  it  is  altogether  futile  to  attempt,  on 


74   Old  Testament   Introduction 

this  basis,  an  analysis  of  the  entire  document  into 
its  component  parts.  The  presence  of  several 
hands  may  also  be  detected,  though  not  so  readily, 
in  E.  Most  scholars  suppose  J  to  precede  E,  but 
one  or  two  reverse  the  order.  The  truth  is  that 
there  are  passages  in  J  inspired  by  splendid  prophe- 
tic conceptions,  which  must  be  later  than  the 
earliest  edition  of  E  ;  and  the  moment  it  is  recog- 
nized that  a  long  period  elapsed  before  either  docu- 
ment reached  its  present  form,  the  question  of 
priority  becomes  relatively  unimportant. 

P  is  even  more  obviously  the  result  of  a  long 
process  marked  by  repeated  additions  and  refine- 
ments. Numbers  xviii.  7,  e.g.,  implies  that  ordi- 
nary priests  might  pass  within  the  vail,  whereas 
in  Leviticus  xvi.  this  is  possible  only  to  the  high 
priest,  and  even  to  him  only  once  a  year.  Exodus 
xxix.  7  represents  only  the  high  priest  as  anointed, 
Exodus  xxviii.  41  the  other  priests  as  well.  The 
section  in  Exodus  xxx.  1-10  on  the  altar  of  in- 
cense must  be  later  than  the  list  in  xxvi.  31-37, 
where  it  is  not  mentioned.  The  age,  too,  at  which 
the  Levites  might  enter  upon  their  service  appears 
to  have  been  repeatedly  changed  ;  in  Numbers  iv. 
3  it  is  put  at  thirty  years,  in  viii.  24  at  twenty-five 
(and  1  Chron.  xxiii.  24  at  twenty).  All  this  only 
shows  the  unceasing  attention  that  was  paid  by 
the  priests  to  the  problem  of  worship  ;  and  the 
length  of  the  period  over  which  this  attention  was 
spread  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  even  in 
the  third  century  B.C.,  as  we  know  from  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  the  Hebrew  text  of  Exodus  xxxv.-xl.  was 
not  absolutely  fixed. 


Prophetic  and  Priestly  Documents  7  5 

We  may  conceive  the  composition  of  the  Penta- 
teuch to  have  passed  through  approximately  the 
following  stages.  Earliest  of  all  and  fundamental 
to  all  come  the  ancient  traditions  and  the  ancient 
poetry,  such  as  the  book  of  the  wars  of  Jehovah, 
and  the  book  of  Jashar.  Upon  this  basis,  during 
the  monarchy  men  of  prophetic  spirit  in  both  king- 
doms— not  improbably  at  the  sanctuaries — wrote 
the  history  of  the  Hebrew  people.  These  docu- 
ments, J  and  E,  were  subsequently  combined  into 
a  single  history  (JE),  possibly  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, though  how  long,  if  at  all,  J  and  E  continued 
to  enjoy  an  independent  existence  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing.  During  the  exile,  the  book  of  Deuter- 
onomy was  added  (JED).  Its  influence,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  very  prominent  in  Joshua,  and  occa- 
sionally traceable  even  in  the  earlier  books  (cf.  Gen. 
xviii.  19,  xxvi.  5).  After  the  exile  P  was  incor- 
porated, and  the  Hexateuch  had  assumed  practi- 
cally its  present  form  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century  B.C. 


Judg 


es 


For  the  understanding  of  the  early  history  and  re- 
ligion of  Israel,  the  book  of  Judges,  which  covers 
the  period  from  the  death  of  Joshua  to  the  beginning 
of  the  struggle  with  the  Philistines,  is  of  inestimable 
importance ;  and  it  is  very  fortunate  that  the 
elements  contributed  by  the  later  editors  are  so 
easily  separated  from  the  ancient  stories  whose 
moral  they  seek  to  point.  That  moral  is  most 
elaborately  stated  in  ii.  6-iii.  6,  which  is  a  sort  of 
programme  or  preface  to  iii.  7-xvi.  31,  which  con- 
stitutes the  real  kernel  of  the  book  of  Judges — chs. 
xvii.-xxi.,  as  we  shall  see,  being  a  supplement  and 
i.  i-ii.  5  an  introduction.  Briefly  stated,  the  moral 
is  this  :  in  the  ancient  history,  unfaithfulness  to 
Jehovah  was  regularly  followed  by  chastisement 
in  the  shape  of  foreign  invasion,  but  when  the 
people  repented  and  cried  to  Jehovah  He  raised  up 
a  leader  to  deliver  them.  Unfaithfulness,  chastise- 
ment ;  penitence,  forgiveness.  This  philosophy  of 
history,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  had  of  course  the 
practical  object  of  inspiring  the  people  with  a  sense 
of  the  importance  of  fidelity  to  Jehovah.  Both  the 
ideas  and  the  phraseology  of  this  passage,  ii.  6-iii.  6, 
are  unmistakably  those  of  Deuteronomy  :  therefore 

78 


Judg 


es  77 

here,  as  in  Joshua,  we  speak  of  the  Deuteronomic 
redaction. 

The  moral  expressed  in  the  preface  and  repeated 
in  a  less  elaborate  form  elsewhere,  vi.  7-10,  x.  6-16, 
is  amply  illustrated  by  the  stories  that  follow — the 
stories  of  Othniel,  Ehud,  Deborah  and  Barak, 
Gideon,  Jephthah  and  Samson.  This  does  not 
exhaust  the  list  of  judges,  but  it  exhausts  the  list  of 
those  whose  stories  are  used  to  illustrate  the  Deutero- 
nomic scheme.  The  story  of  Abimelech,  e.g.  (ix.), 
has  no  such  preface  or  conclusion  as  these  six  have  ; 
neither  has  the  notice  of  Shamgar  in  hi.  31  ;  the 
preface  is  also  lacking  in  the  very  bald  notices  of  the 
five  minor  judges,  x.  1-5,  xii.  8-15.  It  is  clear,  there- 
fore, that  they  fell  without  the  original  Deuteronomic 
scheme  ;  but  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  later  editors 
of  the  book  intended  to  represent  the  period  by 
twelve  judges,  Abimelech  being  apparently  reckoned 
a  judge,  though  he  is  not  called  one.  Another  com- 
putation, which  ignored  Abimelech,  reached  the 
number  twelve  by  adding  Shamgar,  hi.  31,  whom  a 
comparison  of  hi.  31  with  iv.  1  shows  not  to  have 
belonged  to  the  original  book  ;  the  name  was  prob- 
ably suggested  by  v.  6a. 

Chs.  xvii.-xxi.,  which  consist  of  two  appendices 
(xvii.,  xviii,  the  origin  of  the  sanctuary  at  Dan,  and 
xix.-xxi.,  the  vengeance  of  Israel  on  Benjamin  for 
the  outrage  at  Gibeah),  also  clearly  fell  without  the 
Deuteronomic  redaction  :  the  section  is  untouched 
either  by  the  language  or  ideas  of  Deuteronomy. 
Further,  these  chapters  are  clearly  out  of  place  where 
they  stand  ;  for,  generally  speaking,  the  order  of 
the  book  is  chronological,  beginning  with  the  death 


78    Old  Testament   Introduction 

of  Joshua  and  ending  with  the  Philistine  invasion 
which  lasted  on  into  the  days  of  Samuel,  whereas 
both  stories  in  the  appendix  refer  to  quite  an  early 
period,  two  of  the  characters  named  being  the 
grandsons  of  Moses  and  Aaron  respectively  (xviii.  30, 
xx.  28).1 

The  introduction,  i.  i-ii.  5,  also  plainly  falls 
without  the  scheme,  for  the  book  proper,  ii.  6ff.,  is 
a  direct  continuation 2  of  Joshua  xxiv.  27,  and 
i.  i-ii.  5  really  duplicates,  in  the  main,  accounts  and 
isolated  notices  scattered  through  Joshua  xv.,  xvi., 
xvii.,  xix.  The  incidents  related  in  these  chapters 
are  assigned  to  Joshua's  lifetime  ;  the  phrase  with 
which  the  book  of  Judges  begins — "  It  came  to  pass 
after  the  death  of  Joshua  " — is  clearly  a  later  attempt 
to  connect  the  two  books,  and  inconsistent  with 
ii.  6ff.,  which  carries  the  story  back  to  a  period 
before  Joshua's  death. 

^%The  original  book  of  Judges,  then,  as  edited  by 
the  Deuteronomist,  is  represented 3  by  ii.  6-xv., 
minus  the  notices  of  Shamgar,  Abimelech  and  the 
minor  judges.  The  moral  pointed  by  the  redaction, 
valuable  as  it  may  be,  is  not  always  suggested  by  the 
history.  The  redaction  assigns  the  national  mis- 
fortunes to  idolatry,  though  only  once  is  idolatry 
mentioned  with  reprobation  in  the  ancient  stories 
themselves,    vi.    25-32.     The    redaction    shows    a 

1  In  ch.  xviii.  30  the  word  now  read  as  Manasseh  was  originally 
Moses. 

2  Ch.  ii.  6,  7  =  Josh.  xxiv.  28,  31  ;  Jud.  ii.  8,  9  =  Josh.  xxiv. 
29,  30. 

3  Note  that  ch.  xv.  20  was  apparently  designed  to  conclude 
the  story  of  Samson,  raising  the  suspicion  that  ch.  xvi.  (with  a 
similar  conclusion)  was  added  later. 


Judge; 


79 


further  indifference  to  history  in  giving  a  national l 
turn  to  the  tale  of  apostasy  and  deliverance,  whereas 
the  original  stories  show  that  the  interests  are  really 
not  as  yet  national,  but  only  tribal.  The  chronology 
of  the  book — which  is  also  part  of  the  redaction — 
with  its  round  numbers,  20,  40,  80,  etc.,  appears  to 
contain  an  artificial  element,  and  to  form  part  of  the 
scheme  indicated  in  1  Kings  vi.  1,  which  assigns 
480  years,  i.e.  twelve  generations,  to  the  period 
between  the  exodus  and  the  building  of  the  temple. 
Many  considerations  make  it  practically  certain  that 
the  periods  of  the  judges,  which  are  represented  as 
successive,  were  often  really  synchronous,  and  that 
therefore  the  period  covered  by  the  entire  book  is 
only  about  two  centuries. 

J§  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  original  Deu- 
teronomic  book  of  Judges  included  the  stories  of 
Eli  and  Samuel,  and  ended  with  1  Samuel  xii.  It 
is  expressly  said  in  Judges  xiii.  5  that  Samuel  is  to 
begin  to  deliver  Israel  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Philis- 
tines, and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  com- 
pletion of  the  deliverance  was  also  related  ;  besides, 
Samuel's  farewell  address  contains  many  reminis- 
cences of  the  familiar  formulae  of  the  book  of  Judges 
(1  Sam.  xii.  gfi.)  and  an  appropriate  summary  of 
the  teaching  and  some  of  the  facts  of  that  book 
(cf.  v.  11).  It  is  easy  to  imagine,  however,  why  the 
stories  of  Eli  and  Samuel  were  ultimately  separated 
from  the  book  of  Judges  :  partly  because  they  were 
felt  to  be  hardly  judges  in  the  old  sense  of  defenders, 

1  Cf.  iii.  12.  The  children  of  Israel  did  evil  again  in  the  sight  of 
Jehovah,  and  Jehovah  strengthened  Eglon  the  King  of  Moab 
against  Israel;    so  vv.  14,  15,  etc. 


8o   Old  Testament   Introduction 

deliverers — Eli  was  a  priest,  and  Samuel  a  prophet — 
and  still  more  because  the  story  of  Samuel,  at  any 
rate,  was  bound  up  with  the  history  of  the  monarchy. 
The  book  received  its  present  form  from  post- 
exilic  redactors.  This  is  rendered  certain  by  the  un- 
mistakable marks  of  the  influence  of  the  priestly  code 
in  chs.  xx.}  xxi.  The  unanimity  with  which  Israel 
acts,  the  extraordinarily  high  numbers,1  the  pro- 
minence of  such  words  as  "  congregation,"  constitute 
indubitable  evidence  of  a  priestly  hand.  Some  post- 
Deuteronomic  hand,  if  not  this  same  one,2  added  the 
other  appendix,  xvii.,  xviL  the  introduction,  i.-ii.  5, 
and  the  sections  in  the  body  of  the  book  already 
shown  to  be  late.3  The  motives  which  prompted 
these  additions  were  varied.  With  regard  to  the 
minor  judges,  e.g.,  some  suppose  that  the  object  was 
simply  to  make  up  the  number  twelve  ;  but  generally 
speaking,  the  motive  for  the  additions  would  be  the 
natural  desire  to  conserve  extant  relics  of  the  past. 
The  introduction  and  appendix,  though  added  late, 
contain  very  ancient  material.  Many  of  the  his- 
torical notices  in  ch.  i.  are  reproductions  of  early 
and  important  notices  in  the  book  of  Joshua,  though 
with  significant  editorial  additions,  usually  in  honour 
of  Judah  ;4  and  the  story  of  the  origin  of  the  sanctuary 
at  Dan,  with  its  very  candid  account  of  the  furniture 
of  the  sanctuary  and  the  capture  of  the  priest,  is 

1  Ch.  xx.  2  (cf.  Num.  xxxi.).     Contrast  Jud.  v.  8. 

2  Note  the  phrase  in  both  stories.     "In  those  days  there  was 
no  king  in  Israel,"  xviii.  i,  xix.  i. 

3  Shamgar  iii.  31  ;    Abimelech  (ix)  ;    minor  judges,    x.    1-5, 
xii.  8-15  ;   Samson  (xvi.). 

4  Cf.  ch.  i.  8,  which  contradicts  i.  21 ;  and  i.  18,  which  contra- 
dicts i.  19. 


Judg 


es  8 1 


obviously  very  old.  Doubtless  also  there  is  a 
historical  element  in  xix.-xxi.,  though  it  has  been 
seriously  overlaid  by  the  priestly  redaction — possibly 
also  in  the  notices  of  the  minor  judges. 

This  raises  the  question  of  the  sources  and  his- 
torical value  of  the  stories  in  the  body  of  the  book, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  are  very  easily  separated 
from  the  redact ional  elements.  Indeed,  as  those 
elements  are  confined  to  the  beginning  and  the  end 
of  the  stories,  we  may  assume  that  the  stories  them- 
selves were  not  composed  by  the  redactors,  but 
already  reached  them  in  a  fixed  and  finished  form. 
Further,  it  is  important  to  note  that,  just  as  in  the 
prophetic  portions  of  the  Hexateuch,  duplicates  are 
often  present — very  probably  in  the  stories  of  Ehud, 
hi.  I2ff.,  Deborah  and  Barak  (iv.),  Abimelech  (ix.), 
and  Micah  (xvii.,  xviii.),  but  certainly  in  the  story 
of  Gideon1  (vi.-viii.).  According  to  the  later  ver- 
sion, Gideon  is  the  deliverer  of  Israel  from  the  incur- 
sions of  the  Midianites,  and  the  princes  slain  are 
Oreb  and  Zeeb,  vii.  24-viii.  3  ;  according  to  the 
earlier  version,  viii.  4-21,  which  is  on  a  smaller 
scale,  Gideon,  accompanied  by  part  of  his  clan, 
takes  the  lives  of  Zebah  and  Zalmunna  to  avenge  his 
brothers,  whom  they  had  slain.  In  the  case  of 
duplicated  stories,  the  Deuteronomic  redactors  ap- 
parently found  the  stories  already  in  combination,  so 
that  the  original  constituent  documents  -must  lie 
further  back  still.  As  the  narratives,  with  their 
primitive    religious  ideas  and  practices  and  their 

1  In  the  story  of  Jephthah,  ch.  xi.  12-28,  which  interrupt  the 
connexion  and  deals  with  Moab,  not  with  Ammon,  is  a  later 
interpolation. 

6 


82    Old  Testament  Introduction 

obvious  delight  in  war,  are  clearly  the  echo  of  an 
early  time,  we  shall  be  safe  in  relegating  the  original 
documents,  at  the  latest,  to  the  eighth  or  ninth  cen- 
tury B.C.  It  is  a  point  on  which  unanimity  has  not 
yet  been  reached,  whether  these  documents  are  the 
Jehovist  and  Elohist  of  the  Hexateuch  ;  but  con- 
sidering the  fact  that  the  older  notices  in  i.-ii.  5,  on 
account  of  the  prominence  of  Judah  and  for  other 
reasons,  are  usually  assigned  to  J,  and  that  some  of 
the  characteristics  of  these  two  documents  recur  in 
the  course  of  the  book,  the  hypothesis  that  J  and  E 
are  continued  at  least  into  Judges  must  be  regarded 
as  not  improbable. 

Fortunately  we  are  able  in  one  case  to  trace  the 
source  of  a  story.  The  story  of  Deborah  and  Barak 
is  told  in  chs.  iv.  and  v.  Ch.  5,  which  is  so  graphic 
that  it  must  have  come  from  a  contemporary — one 
had  almost  said  an  eye-witness — is  undoubtedly  the 
older  form  of  the  story,  as  it  is  in  verse.  Partly  on 
the  basis  of  this  poem  ch.  iv.  has  been  built  up, 
and  the  account  of  Sisera's  death  in  this  chapter, 
iv.  21,  which  differs  from  that  in  v.  26,  27,  rests  on  a 
misunderstanding  of  the  situation  in  v.  26.  Here 
we  see  the  risks  which  the  ballads  ran  when  turned 
into  prose,  but  more  important  is  it  to  note  the  poeti- 
cal origin  of  the  story.  Probably  ch.  v.  originally 
belonged  to  such  a  collection  as  the  book  of  the 
wars  of  Jehovah  or  the  book  of  Jashar,  and  it  is 
natural  to  suppose  that  other  stories  in  the  book  of 
Judges — e.g.  the  exploits  of  Gideon — may  have 
similarly  originated  in  war-ballads. 

The  religion  of  the  book  of  Judges  is  powerful  but 


Judges 


83 


primitive.  The  ideal  man  is  the  ideal  warrior. 
Grim  tales  of  war  are  told  with  unaffected  delight, 
and  the  spirit  of  God  manifests  itself  chiefly  in  the 
inspiration  of  the  warrior.  Gideon  and  Micah  have 
their  idols.  Chemosh  and  Dagon  are  as  real,  though 
not  so  powerful,  as  Jehovah.  Unlike  the  redaction, 
the  earlier  tales  are  not  given  to  moralizing,  and  yet 
once  at  least  the  moral  is  explicitly  pointed,  ix.  56fL 
But  elsewhere  the  power  of  religion  in  life  is  suggested, 
not  by  explicit  comment,  but  rather  by  the  natural- 
ness with  which  every  interest  and  activity  of  life 
are  viewed  in  a  religious  light.  Nowhere  is  this 
more  obvious  than  in  the  priceless  song  of  Deborah  1 
(v.).  Israel's  battles  are  the  battles  of  Jehovah  ; 
her  triumph  is  His  triumph.  The  song  is  inspired  by 
an  intense  belief  in  the  national  God,  but  there  was 
little  that  was  ethical  in  the  religion  of  the  period. 
Jephthah  offers  his  child  in  sacrifice.  Jael  is  praised 
for  a  murder  which  was  a  breach  of  the  common 
Semitic  law  of  hospitality.  By  revealing,  however, 
so  candidly  the  meagre  beginnings  of  Israel's  religion, 
the  book  of  Judges  only  increases  our  sense  of  the 
miracle  which  brought  that  religion  to  its  incom- 
parable consummation  in  the  fulness  of  the  times. 

/ 

1  The  song  is  not  necessarily  and  not  probably  composed  by 
Deborah.  In  v.  12  she  is  addressed  in  the  2nd  person,  and  v.  7 
may  be  similarly  read,  "  Till  thou,  Deborah,  didst  arise." 


Samuel 

Alike  from  the  literary  and  the  historical  point  of 
view,  the  book  !  of  Samuel  stands  midway  between 
the  book  of  Judges  and  the  book  of  Kings.  As  we 
have  already  seen,  the  Deuteronomic  book  of  Judges 
in  all  probability  ran  into  Samuel  and  ended  in 
ch.  xii.  ;  while  the  story  of  David,  begun  in  Samuel, 
embraces  the  first  two  chapters  of  the  first  book  of 
Kings.  The  book  of  Samuel  is  not  very  happily 
named,  as  much  of  it  is  devoted  to  Saul  and  the 
greater  part  to  David  ;  yet  it  is  not  altogether  inap- 
propriate, as  Samuel  had  much  to  do  with  the 
founding  of  the  monarchy.  The  Jewish  tradition 
that  Samuel  was  the  author  of  the  book  is,  of  course, 
a  palpable  fiction,  as  the  story  is  carried  beyond  his 
death. 

The  book  deals  with  the  establishment  of  the 
monarchy.  Its  ultimate  analysis  is  very  difficult ; 
but,  if  we  regard  the  summary  notices  in  i  Samuel 
xiv.  47-51  and  2  Samuel  viii.  as  the  conclusion  of 
sections — and  this  seems  to  have  been  their  original 
intention — the  broad  outlines  are  clear  enough,  and 
the  book  may  be  divided  into  three  parts  :  the  first 
(1  Sam.  i.-xiv.)  dealing  with  Samuel  and  Saul,  the 

1  Two  books  in  the  Greek  translation,  as  in  modern  Bible©  ; 
originally  one  in  the  Hebrew,  but  two  from  the  year  15 17  a.d. 

81 


Samuel  8  5 

second  (1  Sam.  xv.-2  Sam.  viii.)  with  Saul  and  David, 
and  the  third  (2  Sam.  ix.-xx.,  concluding  with  1 
Kings  i.,  ii.)  with  David,  xxi.-xxiv.  being,  like 
Judges  xvii.-xxi.,  in  the  nature  of  an  appendix. 

The  book  opens  in  the  period  of  the  Philistine 
wars.  Samuel's  birth,  call  and  influence  are  de- 
scribed (1  Sam.  i.-iii.),  and  the  disastrous  defeat  which 
Israel  suffered  at  the  hand  of  the  Philistines.  Je- 
hovah, however,  asserted  His  dignity,  and  the  ark, 
which  had  been  captured,  was  restored  to  Israel 
(iv.-vii.).  But  the  peril  had  taught  Israel  her  need 
of  a  king,  and,  by  a  providential  course  of  events, 
Saul  becomes  the  chosen  man.  He  gains  initial 
successes  (viii.-xiv.). 

But,  for  a  certain  disobedience  and  impetuosity, 
his  rejection  by  God  is  pronounced  by  Samuel,  and 
David  steps  upon  the  arena  of  history  as  the  coming 
king.  His  successes  in  war  stung  the  melancholy 
Saul,  who  at  first  had  loved  him,  into  jealousy  ;  and 
the  tragedy  of  Saul's  life  deepens.  Recognizing  in  the 
versatile  David  his  almost  certain  successor,  he  seeks 
in  various  ways  to  compass  his  destruction,  but 
more  than  once  David  repays  his  malice  with  gener- 
osity. Saul's  persecution,  however,  is  so  persistent 
that  David  is  compelled  to  flee,  and  he  takes  refuge 
with  his  country's  enemy,  the  Philistine  king  of 
Gath.  At  the  decisive  battle  between  Israel  and  the 
Philistines  on  Gilboa,  Saul  perishes.  Soon  after- 
wards, David  is  made  king  of  Judah  ;  and  emerging 
successfully  from  the  subsequent  struggle  with 
Saul's  surviving  son,  he  becomes  king  over  all 
Israel,  seizes  Jerusalem,  and  makes  it  his  civil  and 
religious  capital  (1  Sam.  xv.-2  Sam.  viii.). 


86   Old  Testament   Introduction 

The  story  of  his  reign  is  told  with  great  power  and 
candour,  and  is  full  of  the  most  diverse  interest — his 
guilty  passion  for  Bathsheba,  which  left  its  trail  of 
sorrow  over  all  his  subsequent  career,  the  dissen- 
sions in  the  royal  family,  the  unsuccessful  rebellion 
of  his  son  Absalom,  the  strife  between  Israel  and 
Judah  (2  Sam.  ix.-xx.).  The  story  is  concluded  in 
i  Kings  i.,  ii.,  by  an  account  of  the  intrigue  which 
secured  the  succession  of  Solomon,  and  finally  by 
the  death  and  testament  of  David.  The  appendix, 
which  interrupts  the  story  and  closes  the  book  of 
Samuel  (xxi.-xxiv.)  consists  of  (a)  two  narratives, 
with  a  dominant  religious  interest,  which  chrono- 
logically appear  to  belong  to  the  beginning  of 
David's  reign — the  atonement  by  which  Jehovah's 
anger,  expressed  in  famine,  was  turned  away  from 
the  land,  xxi.  1-14,  and  the  plague  which,  as  a 
divine  penalty,  followed  David's  census  of  the 
people  (xxiv.) ;  (b)  two  psalms — a  song  of  gratitude 
for  God's  gracious  deliverances  (xxii.  =  Ps.  xviii.),  and 
a  brief  psalm  expressing  confidence  in  the  triumph 
of  justice,  xxiii.  1-7  ;  (c)  two  lists  of  David's  heroes 
and  their  deeds,  xxi.  15-22,  xxiii.  8-39. 

In  the  book  of  Samuel,  even  more  distinctly  than 
in  the  Hexateuch,  composite  authorship  is  apparent. 
Little  or  no  attempt  has  been  made  by  the  redactor 1 
to  reduce,  by  omissions,  adaptations,  or  corrections, 
the  divergent  sources  to  a  unity,  so  that  we  are  in 
the  singularly  fortunate  position  of  possessing  in- 
formation which  is  exceedingly  early,  and  in  some 

1  "  Come  and  let  us  renew  the  kingdom,"  1  Sam.  xi.  14,  is  a 
redactional  attempt  to  reconcile  the  two  stories  of  the  origin  of 
the  monarchy. 


Samuel  8  7 

cases  all  but  contemporary,  of  persons,  events  and 
movements,  which  exercised  the  profoundest  in- 
fluence on  the  subsequent  history  of  Israel.  The 
book  has  been  touched  in  a  very  few  places  by  the 
Deuteronomic  redactor — not  to  anything  like  the 
same  extent  as  Judges  or  Kings.  The  few  points  at 
which  he  intervenes,  however,  are  very  significant ; 
his  hand  is  apparent  in  the  threat  of  doom  pronounced 
upon  Eli's  house  (i  Sam.  ii.  27-36)1,  in  the  account  of 
the  decisive  battle  against  the  Philistines  repre- 
sented as  won  for  Israel  by  Samuel's  intercession 
(1  Sam.  vii.  3-16),  in  Samuel's  farewell  address  to  the 
people  (1  Sam.  xii.)  and — most  important  of  all — in 
Nathan's  announcement  to  David  of  the  perpetuity 
of  his  dynasty  (2  Sam.  vii.).  A  study  of  these  pas- 
sages reveals  the  didactic  interest  so  characteristic  of 
the  redactors. 

Such  a  book  as  Samuel  offered  little  opportunity 
for  a  priestly  redaction,  but  it  has  been  touched  here 
and  there  by  a  priestly  hand,  as  we  see  from  1  Samuel 
vi.  15,  with  its  belated  introduction  of  the  Levites  to 
do  what  had  been  done  already,  v.  14,  and  from  the 
very  significant  substitution  of  "all  the  Levites  " 
for  "  Abiathar  "  in  2  Samuel  xv.  24,  cf.  29. 

The  composite  quality  of  the  book  of  Samuel  could 
hardly  fail  to  strike  even  a  careless  observer.  Many 
of  the  events,  both  important  and  unimportant,  are 
related  twice  under  circumstances  which  render  it 
practically  impossible  that  two  different  incidents 
are  recorded.  Two  explanations  are  given,  e.g.,  of 
the  origin  of  the  saying,  "  Is  Saul  also  among  the 

1  Cf.  2  Kings  xxiiL  9  ;   Dent,  xviii.  6-8. 


88   Old  Testament  Introduction 

prophets  ?  "  i  Sam.  x.  n,  xix.  24.  Similarly,  the 
story  of  David's  magnanimity  in  sparing  Saul's  life 
is  twice  told  (1  Sam.  xxiv.,  xxvi.),  and  there  is  no 
allusion  in  the  second  narrative  to  the  first,  such  as 
would  be  natural,  if  not  necessary,  on  the  assumption 
that  the  occasions  were  really  different.  There  are 
also  two  accounts  of  David's  sojourn  among  the 
Philistines  and  of  his  speedy  departure  from  a 
situation  fraught  with  so  much  peril  (1  Sam.  xxi. 
10-15,  xxvii.,  xxix.).  Of  course  there  are  not  un- 
important differences  between  these  two  narratives  : 
the  voluntary  departure  of  the  one  story  becomes  a 
courteous,  though  firm,  dismissal  in  the  other  ;  but 
in  the  light  of  so  many  other  unmistakable  duplicates, 
it  is  hard  to  believe  that  these  are  not  simply  dif- 
ferent versions  of  the  same  story.  There  are  two 
accounts  of  the  death  of  Saul :  according  to  the  one, 
he  committed  suicide  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  4),  according  to 
the  other  he  was  slain  by  an  Amalekite  (2  Sam.  i.  10). 
The  Amalekite's  story  may,  of  course,  be  fiction,  but 
it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  this. 

The  differences  between  the  duplicate  accounts 
are  sometimes  so  serious  as  to  amount  to  incompati- 
bility. In  one  document,  e.g.,  teraphim  are  found 
in  the  house  of  a  devout  worshipper  of  Jehovah, 
1  Sam.  xix.  13,  in  another  they  are  the  symbol  of  an 
idolatry  which  is  comparable  to  the  worst  of  sins, 
1  Sam.  xv.  23.  Again,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
the  statement  in  the  apparently  ancient  record  of 
the  deeds  of  David's  heroes,  that  Elhanan  slew 
Goliath  of  Gath,  2  Sam.  xxi.  19.  But  if  this  be  so, 
what  becomes  of  the  elaborate  and  romantic  story 
of   1   Samuel  xvii.,  which  claims  this  honour  for 


Samuel  8  9 

David  ?  The  difficulty  created  by  this  discrepancy 
was  felt  as  early  as  the  times  of  the  chronicler,  who 
surmounts  it  by  asserting  that  it  was  the  brother  of 
Goliath  whom  Elhanan  slew  (i  Chron.  xx.  5).  Con- 
nected with  this  story  are  other  difficulties  affecting 
the  relation  of  David  to  Saul.  In  this  chapter, 
Saul  is  unacquainted  with  David,  1  Samuel  xvii.  56, 
whereas  in  the  preceding  chapter  David  is  not  only 
present  at  his  court,  but  has  already  won  the 
monarch's  love,  xvi.  21.  The  David  of  the  one 
chapter  is  quite  unlike  the  David  of  the  other  ;  in 
xvi.  18  he  is  a  mature  man,  a  skilled  and  versatile 
minstrel-warrior,  and  the  armour-bearer  of  the 
king  ;  in  xvii.  38,  39,  he  is  a  young  shepherd  boy 
who  cannot  wield  a  sword,  and  who  cuts  a  sorry 
figure  in  a  coat  of  mail.  Many  of  these  undoubted 
difficulties  are  removed  by  the  Septuagint,1  which 
omits  xvii.  12-31, 41, 50, 55 — xviii.  5,  and  the  question 
is  raised  whether  the  Septuagint  omitted  these  verses 
to  secure  a  more  consistent  narrative,  or  whether 
they  were  wanting,  as  seems  more  probable,  in  the 
Hebrew  text  from  which  the  Greek  was  translated. 
In  that  case  these  verses,  which  give  an  idyllic  turn 
(cf.  ch.  xvi.)  to  the  story  of  David,  may  have  been 
added  after  the  Greek  version  was  written,  i.e, 
hardly  earlier  than  250  B.C.,  and  a  curious  light  would 
thus  be  shed  upon  the  history  of  the  text  and  on 


1  The  Greek  text  of  Samuel  is  often  of  great  value.  In  1  Sam. 
xiv.  18  it  preserves  the  undoubtedly  original  reading,  "Bring 
hither  the  epkod,  for  he  carried  the  ephod  that  day  before  Israel," 
instead  of  "  Bring  hither  the  ark  of  God  "  ;  and  in  u.  41  the  Greek 
version  makes  it  clear  that  the  Urim  and  the  Thummim  were 
the  means  employed  to  determine  the  lot. 


go   Old  Testament  Introduction 

the  freedom  with  which  it  was  treated  by  later 
Jewish  scholars.  Equally  striking  and  important 
are  the  conflicting  conceptions  of  the  monarchy 
entertained  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  book.  One 
source  regards  it  as  a  blessing  and  a  gift  of  Jehovah  ; 
the  first  king  is  anointed  by  divine  commission  "  to 
be  prince  over  my  people  Israel,  and  he  shall  save 
my  people  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Philistines," 
i  Sam.  ix.  16  ;  the  other  regards  the  request  for  an 
earthly  king  as  a  rejection  of  the  divine  king,  and 
the  monarchy  as  destined  to  prove  a  vexation,  if  not 
a  curse  (viii.).  Centuries  seem  to  separate  these 
conceptions — the  one  expressing  the  exuberant 
enthusiasm  with  which  the  monarchy  was  initiated, 
the  other — perhaps  about  Hosea's  time  (cf.  Hosea 
viii.  4) — reflecting  the  melancholy  experience  of  its 
essential  impotence.1 

These  considerations  suggest  that  at  any  rate  as 
far  as  2  Samuel  viii. — for  it  is  universally  admitted 
that  2  Samuel  ix.-xx.  is  homogeneous — there  are  at 
least  two  sources,  which  some  would  identify,  though 
upon  grounds  that  are  not  altogether  convincing, 
with  the  Jehovist  and  Elohist  documents  in  the 
Hexateuch.  One  of  these  sources  is  distinctly 
early  and  the  other  distinctly  late,  and  the  early 
source  contains  much  ancient  and  valuable  material. 
Its  recognition  of  Samuel  as   a   local   seer   willing 

1  If  other  proof  were  wanted  that  the  book  is  not  an  original 
literary  unit,  it  might  be  found  in  the  occasional  interruption 
of  the  natural  order.  2  Sam.  xxi.-xxiv.  is  the  most  extensive 
and  obvious  interruption.  But  2  Sam.  hi.  2-5  is  also  out  of 
place,  it  goes  with  v.  6-16.  So  1  Sam.  xviii.  io,  11,  which  is 
really  a  duplication  of  xix.  9,  10  is  psychologically  inappropriate 
at  so  early  a  stage. 


Samuel  g  i 

to  tell  for  a  small  piece  of  money  where  stray  asses 
have  gone,  its  enthusiastic  attitude  to  the  mon- 
archy, its  obvious  delight  in  the  splendid  presence 
and  powers  of  Saul,  its  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
ecstatic  prophets,  its  conception  of  the  ark  as  a  sort 
of  fetish  whose  presence  insures  victory — all  these 
things  bespeak  for  the  document  that  relates  them 
a  high  antiquity.  The  other  document  represents 
Samuel  as  a  great  judge  and  virtual  regent  over  all 
Israel,  it  has  a  wide  experience  of  the  evils  of  mon- 
archy, it  idealizes  David,  and  it  regards  Saul  as  a 
"  rejected  "  man.  It  is  possible  that  these  docu- 
ments, in  their  original  form,  were  biographical — 
Saul  being  the  chief  hero  in  the  one  and  David  in 
the  other.  A  biography  of  Samuel,  which  may  or 
may  not  have  included  the  story  of  the  war  with 
the  Philistines  (i  Sam.  iv.-vii.  2),  possibly  existed 
separately,  though  in  its  present  form  it  is  inter- 
woven with  the  story  of  Saul. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  overpraise  the  literary  and 
historical  genius  of  the  writer  who  in  2  Samuel 
ix.-xx.  traces  the  checkered  course  of  David's 
reign.  He  has  an  unusually  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  period,  a  clear  sense  of  the  forces  that  mould 
history,  a  delicate  insight  into  the  springs  of  char- 
acter, and  an  estimable  candour  in  pourtraying 
the  weakness  as  well  as  the  strength  of  his  hero. 
The  writer's  knowledge  is  so  intimate  that  one  is 
tempted  to  suppose  that  he  must  have  been  a  con- 
temporary ;  and  yet  such  a  phrase  as  "  to  this  day," 
2  Sam.  xviii.  18,  unless  it  be  redactional,  almost 
compels  us  to  come  lower  down.  Probably,  how- 
ever, it  is  not  later  than  the  time  of  Solomon,  whose 


g2    Old  Testament  Introduction 

reign  appears  to  have  been  marked  by  literary  as 
well  as  commercial  activity.1 

The  last  four  chapters,  which  interrupt  the  main 
narrative,  contain  some  ancient  and  some  late 
material.  The  two  tales,  xxi.  1-14,  xxiv.,  which 
have  much  in  common,  were  preserved  because 
of  their  religious  interest ;  and  although  part  of 
ch.  xxiv.  (cf.  vv.  10-14)  is  in  the  later  style,  both 
stories  throw  much  welcome  light  on  the  early 
religious  ideas  of  Israel.  Of  the  poems  2  Samuel 
xxii.  in  its  present  form  can  hardly  be  David's,2 
and  the  same  doubt  may  be  fairly  entertained 
with  regard  to  xxiii.  1-7.  Even  if  v.  1  be  not 
an  imitation  of  Numbers  xxiv.  3,  15,  it  is  hardly 
likely  that  David  would  have  described  himself  in 
terms  of  the  last  clause  of  this  verse.  The  eschato- 
logical  complexion  of  vv.  6,  7  also  suggests,  though 
perhaps  it  does  not  compel,  a  later  date  ;  further,  it 
is  not  exactly  in  favour  of  the  Davidic  authorship 
of  either  of  these  psalms  that  they  are  found  in  a 
section  which  was  obviously  interpolated  later.3 
On  the  other  hand,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  that  the  incomparable  elegy  over  Saul  and 

1  The  Book  of  Jashar,  whose  latest  known  reference  comes 
from  the  reign  of  Solomon  (cf.  p.  102),  is  supposed  by  some  to 
have  been  edited  in  that  reign. 

2  See  pp.  247;   248. 

3  The  song  of  Hannah,  1  Sam.  ii.  1-10,  is  proof  that  later 
editors  inserted  poems  at  points  which  they  deemed  appro- 
priate. If  the  "  anointed  king,"  for  whom  prayer  is  offered  in 
v.  io.be  one  of  the  historical  kings,  then  the  Ps.  is  pre-exilic  ; 
if  the  Messianic  king  of  the  latter  days,  post-exilic.  But  in 
neither  case  could  the  prayer  be  Hannah's,  as  there  was  no  king 
yet.  The  clause  in  v.  5 — "  the  barren  hath  borne  seven" — sug- 
gested the  interpolation  of  the  poem  at  this  point. 


Samuel  9  3 

Jonathan  in  2  Samuel  i.  19-27  is  David's.  Poeti- 
cally it  is  a  gem  of  purest  ray  ;  but,  though  its 
position  in  the  book  of  Jashar  l  shows  that  it  was 
regarded  as  a  religious  poem,  it  strikes  no  distinc- 
tively religious  note.  The  little  fragment  on  the 
death  of  Abner,  2  Sam.  hi.  33ft.,  is  also  no  doubt  his. 

The  book  of  Samuel  offers  a  large  contribution 
to  our  knowledge  of  the  early  religion  of  Israel.  It 
presents  us  with  a  practical  illustration  of  the 
rigorous  obligations  of  the  ban  (i  Sam.  xv.),  of  the 
effects  of  technical  holiness  (i  Sam.  xxi.  4,  5),  of  the 
appearance  of  the  images  known  as  teraphim  (1  Sam. 
xix.  13),  of  the  usages  of  necromancy  (1  Sam. 
xxviii.),  of  the  peril  of  unavenged  bloodshed  (2  Sam. 
xxi.),  of  the  almost  idolatrous  regard  for  the  ark 
(1  Sam.  iv.),  of  the  nature  of  the  lot  (1  Sam.  xiv. 
41,  lxx.),  of  the  place  of  fasting  and  the  inviola- 
bility of  oaths  (1  Sam.  xiv.).  To  the  student  of 
human  nature,  the  book  is  peculiarly  rich  in 
material.  The  career  of  David  and  still  more  that 
of  Saul — David  with  his  weakness  and  his  magna- 
nimity, and  Saul,  a  noble  character,  ruined  by 
jealousy  and  failure  combined  working  upon  a 
predisposition  to  melancholy — present  a  most 
fascinating  psychological  study.  The  ethical  in- 
terest, too,  though  seldom  obtruded,  is  always  pre- 
sent. In  the  parable  of  Nathan,  it  receives  direct 
and  dramatic  expression  ;  but  the  whole  story  of 
David's  reign  is  haunted  by  a  sense  of  the  Nemesis 
of  sin. 

1  This  may  either  mean  the  book  of  the  upright  cr  brave, 
i.e.  the  heroes  of  Israel,  or  it  may  mean  the  book  of  Israel  herself. 


Kings 

The  book l  of  Kings  is  strikingly  unlike  any 
modern  historical  narrative.  Its  comparative 
brevity,  its  curious  perspective,  and — with  some 
brilliant  exceptions — its  relative  monotony,  are 
obvious  to  the  most  cursory  perusal,  and  to  under- 
stand these  things  is,  in  large  measure,  to  under- 
stand the  book.  It  covers  a  period  of  no  less  than 
four  centuries.  Beginning  with  the  death  of  David 
and  the  accession  of  Solomon  (i  Kings  i.,  ii.)  it 
traverses  his  reign  with  considerable  fulness  (i  Kings 
iii.-xi.),  then  carries  on  the  history  of  the  monarchy 
in  both  countries  from  the  disruption  to  the  fall  of 
the  northern  kingdom  (i  Kings  xii.-2  Kings  xvii.), 
and  traces  the  story  of  Judah  from  that  point  to  the 
exile  (2  Kings  xviii.-xxv.). 

During  this  period  events  of  epoch-making  im- 
portance in  politics  and  religion  were  taking  place. 
In  it  literary  prophecy  was  born,  trade  and  com- 
merce arose  with  their  inevitable  cleavage  of  society 
into  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  northern  kingdom 
disappeared  as  a  political  force,  and  many  of  her 

1  Originally  and  till  15 17  a.d.  Kings  was  reckoned  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible  as  one  book.  The  Greek  translation  reckons  it  as 
two  books,  which  it  entitles  the  third  and  fourth  books  of  the 
kingdoms,  the  first  two  being  represented  by  the  two  books  of 
Samuel. 

94 


King! 


95 


people  were  carried  into  exile.  Judah  was  domi- 
nated in  turn  by  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  with  the 
result  that  her  religious  usages  were  profoundly 
affected  by  theirs.  But  of  all  this  we  learn  very 
little  from  the  book  of  Kings.  Most  of  what  we 
do  know  of  the  inner  history  of  the  period  comes 
from  the  prophets.  To  understand  the  state  of 
society,  e.g.  in  the  time  of  Jeroboam  II,  we  go  not 
to  the  book  of  Kings  but  to  Amos  and  Hosea. 

Again  the  perspective  is  strange.  It  is  not  only 
that  brief  reigns  like  those  of  Shallum  and  Pekahiah 
(2  Kings  xv.)  are  dismissed  in  a  verse  or  two,  but 
even  long  and  very  important  reigns,  such  as  that 
of  Jeroboam  II.  (2  Kings  xiv.  23-29).  Omri,  the 
father  of  Ahab,  was,  we  know,  a  much  more  im- 
portant person  than  the  few  verses  devoted  to  him 
in  1  Kings  xvi.  21-28  would  lead  us  to  suppose.  The 
reign  of  Ahab  himself,  on  the  other  hand,  is  dealt 
with  at  considerable  length  (1  Kings  xvi.  29-xxii. 
40),  and  Solomon  receives  no  less  than  nine  chapters 
(1  Kings  iii.-xi.).  The  stories  of  Jeroboam  I 
(1  Kings  xii.),  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xviii.-xx.),  Josiah 
(2  Kings  xxii.  ff.)  are  told  with  comparative  fulness. 
Whenever  the  narrative  begins  to  expand  it  is 
plain  that  the  interest  of  the  author  is  predomi- 
nantly and  almost  exclusively  religious  ;  in  other 
words,  his  aim  is  to  write  not  a  political,  but  an 
ecclesiastical  history.  This  at  once  explains  his 
insertions  and  omissions.  Omri's  reign  was  not 
marked  by  anything  of  conspicuous  importance 
to  religion,  while  it  was  under  Ahab  that  the  great 
struggle  of  Jehovah  worship  against  Baalism  took 
place.     Solomon   is   of  unique  importance,   as  he 


96   Old  Testament  Introduction 

was  the  founder  of  the  temple.  Hezekiah's  career 
touches  that  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  while  his  reign 
and  Josiah's  are  marked  by  attempts  at  religious 
reform.  The  author  is  writing  for  men  who  have 
access  to  records  of  the  political  history,  and  to  these 
"  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,"  as 
they  are  called,  he  repeatedly  refers  readers  who 
are  interested  in  the  political  facts. 

Finally,  though  some  of  the  narratives — notably 
the  Elijah  group — are  dramatic  and  powerful  to  the 
last  degree,  the  book  has  not,  generally  speaking, 
that  flexibility  and  movement  which  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  look  for  in  a  modern  historian.  It  has 
been  artificially  conformed  to  a  scheme.  The 
various  kings  are  introduced  and  dismissed  and 
their  reigns  are  criticized,  in  set  formulae,  and  these 
formulae  are  Deuteronomic.  With  the  exception 
of  Hezekiah,  all  the  kings  before  Josiah  are  im- 
plicitly condemned  for  worshipping  upon  the  high 
places  ;  and  the  centralization  of  the  worship  at 
Jerusalem  was,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  chief 
feature  of  the  Deuteronomic  legislation.  The  book 
of  Kings,  like  Joshua,  Judges  and  Samuel  (in  part), 
has  been  subjected  to  a  Deuteronomic  redaction,  of 
which  the  most  obvious  feature  is  the  summary 
notice  and  criticism  of  the  various  kings.  This 
redaction  cannot  have  taken  place  earlier  than 
621  B.C.  (the  date  of  the  publication  of  Deuteronomy) 
nor  later  than  597  B.C.,  as  the  reference  to  the 
chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ceases  with  the 
reign  of  Jehoiakim,  2  Kings  xxiv.  5.  Parts  of  the 
book  presuppose  that  the  temple  is  still  standing, 
1  Kings  viii.  29,  and  the  exile  not  yet  an  accom- 


Kings 


97 


plished  fact.  There  was,  however,  a  later  redaction 
some  years  after  the  pardon  of  Jehoiachin  in  561 
B.C.  (2  Kings  xxv.  27),  and  sporadic  traces  of  this  are 
seen  throughout  the  book,  parts  of  which  clearly 
imply  the  exile,  1  Kings  viii.  46,  47,  and  the  de- 
struction of  the  temple,  1  Kings  ix.  7,  8.  These 
redactions  are  known  to  criticism  as  D  and  Da 
respectively. 

On  none  of  the  historical  books  has  the  influence 
of  Deuteronomy  been  so  pervasive  as  on  Kings. 
The  importance  of  the  Deuteronomic  law  receives 
emphatic  reiteration,  1  Kings  ii.  3,  4,  ix.  1-9,  and 
once  that  law  is  cited  practically  word  for  word, 
2  Kings  xiv.  6  ;  cf.  Deut.  xxiv.  16.     Naturally  the 
affairs  of  the  temple  as  the  exclusive  seat  of  the 
true  worship  receive  considerable  attention.     This 
explains  the  elaborate  treatment  accorded  to  the 
reign  of  Solomon,  who  founded  the  temple,  and  to 
the  description  of  the  temple  itself  (1  Kings  vi.)  ; 
and  on  his  prayer  of  dedication  the  Deuteronomic 
influence  is  very  conspicuous  (1  Kings  viii.).     It  is 
also  unmistakable  in  the  chapter  which  concludes 
the  story  of  the  northern  kingdom  and  attempts  to 
account    for    the    disaster    (2    Kings    xvii.).     The 
chapter  presents  what  may  be  called  a  Deuterono- 
mic philosophy  of  history,   corresponding  to  the 
scheme  which  is  thrown  into  the  forefront  of  the 
book  of  Judges  (ii.  6-iii.  6).     Traces  of  a  hand  that 
is  still  later  than  the  second  Deuteronomic  redaction 
are  to  be  found  here  and  there  in  the  book;  e.g.,  in 
1  Kings  viii.  4,  the  Levites  are  a  later  insertion  to 
satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  post-exilic  priestly 
law — the  words  are  not  supported  by  the  Septua- 

7 


g8   Old  Testament  Introduction 

gint.  Here  we  see  the  influence  of  the  priestly 
point  of  view,  but  the  traces  are  far  too  few  to 
justify  us  in  speaking  of  a  priestly  redaction  ;  the 
course  which  such  a  redaction  would  have  taken 
we  see  from  the  book  of  Chronicles.  But  that 
the  book  was  touched  by  post-exilic  hands  is 
certain ;  i  Kings  xiii.  32  actually  speaks  of  "  the 
cities  of  Samaria,"  a  phrase  which  implies  that 
Samaria  was  a  province,  as  it  was  not  till  after 
the  exile. 

It  is  fortunate  that  one  of  the  longest,  most  im- 
portant, and  impressive  sections  of  the  book — the 
Elijah  and  Elisha  narratives  (1  Kings  xvii.-2  Kings 
viii.,  xiii.  14-21) — has  not  been  touched  by  the 
Deuteronomic  redaction.  The  Elijah  narratives 
not  only  recognize  the  existence  of  altars  all  over 
the  land,  1  Kings  xix.  10,  but  the  great  contest 
between  Jehovah  and  Baal  is  actually  decided  at 
the  sanctuary  on  Carmel,  xviii.  20,  a  sanctuary 
which,  by  the  Deuteronomic  law,  was  illegal. 
Again,  the  advice  given  by  Elisha  to  cut  down  the 
fruit  trees  in  time  of  war,  2  Kings  iii.  19,  is  in  direct 
contravention  of  the  Deuteronomic  law  (Deut.  xx. 
19).  These  narratives  must  precede  the  redaction  of 
the  book  by  a  century  and  a  half  or  more,  and  we 
have  them  pretty  much  as  they  left  the  hand  of  the 
original  writers.  A  post-exilic  hand,  however, 
is  evident  in  1  Kings  xviii.  31,  32^.  To  a  later  age, 
which  believed  in  the  exclusive  rights  of  Jerusalem, 
the  altar  on  Carmel,  which  was  said  to  be  repaired 
by  Elijah,  v.  30,  was  naturally  an  offence  ;  so  the 
repairing  of  this  old  altar  is  represented  as  the 
erection  of  a  new  and  special  one,  typical  of  the 


Kings 


99 


unity  of  Israel.  The  lateness  of  the  insertion  is 
further  proved  by  its  containing  a  quotation  from 
P  (Gen.  xxxv.  10). 

As  the  book  was  redacted  by  Judean  writers,  it 
is  not  unnatural  that  the  summary  notices  of  the 
kings  of  Judah  are  more  elaborate  than  those  of 
Israel.     In  the  former  case,  but  not  in  the  latter, 
the  age  of  the  king  at  his  accession  and  the  name 
of  his  mother  are  mentioned.     One  curious  feature 
of  these  notices  is  that  the  statement  of  a  king's 
accession,  whether  in  Israel  or  Judah,  is  always  ac- 
companied by  a  statement  of  the  corresponding 
year  in  the  contemporary  reign  of  the  sister  king- 
dom.    The  notices  conform  to  this  type  :  "  In  the 
twenty   and   seventh  year  of   Jeroboam,   king  of 
Israel,   began   Azariah,   son   of  Amaziah,   king  of 
Judah,  to  reign,"  2  Kings  xv.  1.     It  is  practically 
certain  that  these  synchronisms,  as  they  are  called, 
are  not  contemporary  but  the  work  of  the  redactors. 
There  is  no  reason  to    suppose  that    the  kings  of 
either  country  would  have  dated  their  own  reigns 
with  reference  to  the  other  ;  besides,  the  synchron- 
isms do  not  strictly  agree  with  the  other  chronolo- 
gical notices  of  the  reigns.     The  period  between  the 
division  of  the  kingdoms  and  the  fall  of  Samaria  is 
estimated  as  260  years  in  the  story  of  the  kings  of 
Judah,  but  only  as  242  in  the  case  of  Israel.     Pro- 
bably the  original  documents  contained  the  number 
of  years  in  the  reign,  and  the  dates  of  the  more  im- 
portant  events ;   but   the   synchronisms   represent 
an  artificial  scheme  created  by  the  redactor.     Traces 
of  such  a  system  are  present  in  1  Kings  vi.  1,  ac- 
cording to  which  480  years,  i.e.  twelve  generations 


ioo  Old  Testament   Introduction 

of  forty  years  each,  elapsed  between  the  exodus  and 
the  building  of  the  temple. 

So  much  for  the  redaction  ;  what,  then,  were  the 
sources  of  the  redaction  ?  Three  are  expressly 
mentioned — the  book  of  the  acts  of  Solomon, 
i  Kings  xi.  41,  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the 
kings  of  Israel,  and  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of 
the  kings  of  Judah.  The  nature  of  these  books 
may  be  inferred,  partly  from  the  facts  recorded  in 
our  book  of  Kings,  and  especially  from  the  facts  in 
support  of  which  they  are  cited.  They  seem  to 
have  contained,  e.g.,  accounts  of  wars,  conquests, 
conspiracies,  buildings,  1  Kings  xiv.  19,  xv.  23,  xvi. 
20,  but  it  is  not  probable  that  they  were  official 
annals.  There  was  indeed  a  court  official  whose 
name  is  sometimes  translated  "  the  recorder," 
2  Sam.  viii.  16,  1  Kings  iv.  3.  But  besides  the  pro- 
bable inaccuracy  of  this  translation,1  it  is  very  un- 
likely that,  in  the  northern  kingdom  at  any  rate, 
with  its  frequent  revolutions,  court  annals  were 
continuously  kept ;  the  annalist  could  hardly  have 
recorded  the  questionable  steps  by  which  his  mon- 
arch often  succeeded  to  the  throne,  though  doubt- 
less official  documents  were  extant,  capable  of 
forming  material  for  the  subsequent  historian.  But 
in  any  case,  the  chronicles  to  which  the  book  of 
Kings  refers  cannot  have  been  official  annals  ;  it  is 
assumed  that  they  are  accessible  to  everybody,  as 
they  would  not  have  been  had  they  been  official 
chronicles.     They  were  in  all  probability  finished 

1  The  word  strictly  means  "  one  who  calls  to  mind,"  and  would 
appropriately  designate  an  official  who  brought  the  affairs  of  the 
kingdom  before  the  king. 


Kings 


101 


political  histories,  something  like  the  elaborate 
section  devoted  to  Solomon  in  our  present  book 
of  Kings.  The  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and 
Judah  probably  formed,  not  one  book,  as  has  been 
supposed,  but  two  ;  the  same  event,  e.g.,  the  cam- 
paign of  Hazael,  is  sometimes  mentioned  in  two 
distinct  and  independent  connections,  2  Kings  x. 
32,  xiii.  3,  cf .  xii.  i8f . — a  fact  which  further  suggests 
that  the  redactor  treated  his  sources  with  at  least 
comparative  fidelity. 

The  book  of  Kings,  as  we  have  seen,  concentrates 
attention  almost  exclusively  on  the  religious 
elements  in  the  history,  and  these  were  determined 
largely  by  the  prophets.  It  is  not  surprising,  there- 
fore, that  many  of  the  longer  sections  deal  with  the 
utterances  or  activities  of  prophets  at  critical 
junctures  of  the  history.  The  part  played  by 
Ahijah  at  the  time  of  the  disruption  of  the  kingdom, 
by  Elijah  in  the  great  struggle  between  Baal  and 
Jehovah  worship,  by  Elisha  during  the  Aramean 
assaults  upon  Israel,  by  Isaiah  at  the  invasion  of 
Sennacherib — these  and  similar  episodes  are  dealt 
with  so  fully  as  to  suggest  that  biographies  of  the 
prophets,  written  possibly  by  literary  members  of 
the  prophetic  order,  were  at  the  disposal  of  the 
redactors  of  the  book  of  Kings.  Temple  affairs  are 
also  discussed,  from  the  days  of  Solomon  to  Josiah 
(1  Kings  vi.  vii.,  2  Kings  xi.,  xii.,  xvi.,  xxii.,  xxiii.), 
with  a  sympathy  and  a  minuteness  which  almost 
suggest  the  inference  that  a  regular  temple  history 
was  kept  ;  but  occasional  statements  which  are 
anything  but  flattering  to  the  priests  (2  Kings 
xii.  7,  15)  render  the  inference  somewhat  precarious. 


102   Old  Testament   Introduction 

Besides  the  chronicles  and  biographies,  there  are 
hints  that  the  redactors  had  access  to  other  sources. 
The  words  in  which  Solomon  dedicated  the  temple, 
only  partially  preserved  in  the  Hebrew,  are,  by  a 
very  probable  emendation  of  the  Greek  text,  taken 
from  the  book  of  Jashar  : — 

The  sun  hath  Jehovah  set  in  the  heavens, 
He  himself  hath  determined  to  dwell  in  the  darkness. 
And  so  I  have  built  Thee  an  house  to  dwell  in, 
Even  a  place  to  abide  in  for  ever  and  ever. 

(2  Kings,  viii.  12,  13  ;    Septuagint,  v.  53). 

Again,  1  Kings  xx.,  xxii.  appears  to  come  from  a 
different  source  from  the  Elijah  narratives  in  1  Kings 
xvii.-xix.,  xxi.  The  former  section  takes  a  dis- 
tinctly more  favourable  view  of  Ahab  than  the 
Elijah  stories  do,  and,  unlike  them,  it  alludes  to 
Ahab  seldom  by  name,  but  usually  as  "  the  king 
of  Israel  "  ;  further,  in  it  the  great  prophet  of  the 
period  is  Micah  rather  than  Elijah.  Both  these 
groups  of  narrative  belong  no  doubt  to  the  northern 
kingdom.1 

It  is  important  to  consider  the  value  of  the 
sources  of  the  book  of  Kings.  We  have  already 
seen  that  the  redactor  occasionally  deals  with  them 
in  a  spirit  of  praiseworthy  scrupulousness,  repeating 
the  same  fact  from  different  sources,  and  making 
no  attempt  to  dovetail  the  one  narrative  into  the 
other.  Sometimes  the  sources  have  been  demon- 
strably followed  word  for  word,  phrases  like  to  this 
day  being  used  of  situations  which  had  passed  away 

1  Chs.  xx.,  xxii.  obviously  so  ;  but  no  less  xvii.-xix.,  xxi.,  for 
in  1  Kings  xix.  3  Beersheba  is  described  as  belonging  to  Judah. 
A  Judean  writer  would  not  have  appended  such  a  note. 


Kings  103 

by  the  time  the  book  was  redacted.1  The  facts, 
though  lamentably  meagre,  have  usually  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  thoroughly  trustworthy;  the 
quotation  from  the  book  of  Jashar  is  no  doubt  as 
genuine  as  it  is  interesting,  and  the  brief  account 
of  the  submission  of  Hezekiah  to  the  tribute 
imposed  by  Sennacherib,  2  Kings  xviii.  14-16,  is 
supported  by  the  Assyrian  records.  But  it  is 
evident  that  the  history  does  not  always  rest  upon 
contemporary  sources,  and  that  early  events  and 
personalities  are  touched  with  the  colours  of  legend 
or  romance.  Much  of  the  story  of  Solomon,  e.g., 
is  unmistakably  historical — his  luxury,  his  effemin- 
acy, his  commerce,  his  unscrupulousness.  But 
there  are  stories  of  another  sort  which,  on  the  face 
of  them,  must  be  decades,  if  not  centuries,  later 
than  Solomon's  reign.  "  There  came  no  more," 
we  are  informed,  "  such  abundance  of  spices  as 
those  which  the  queen  of  Sheba  gave  to  king  Solo- 
mon "  (1  Kings  x.  10).  The  age  of  Solomon  is  clearly 
long  past,  and  his  glory  has  been  enhanced  by  the 
lapse  of  time  ;  for  "  silver  was  nothing  accounted 
of  in  the  days  of  Solomon,"  x.  21.  Tales  are  told 
of  his  almost  fabulous  revenue,  x.  14,  which  can 
hardly  be  reconciled  with  the  story  of  his  loan  from 
Hiram,  ix.  14.  The  story  of  Solomon  is  really  a 
compilation,  and  its  various  elements  are  by  no 
means  all  of  the  same  historical  value. 

The  career  of  Elisha  is  also  seen  through  the 
colours  of  a  rich  and  reverent  imagination.     It  is, 

1  E.g.,  1  Kings  xii.  19  implies  the  existence  of  Israel,  and  2  Kings 
viii.  22  (Edom  revolted  from  under  the  hand  of  Judah  unto  this 
day)  ignores  the  later  conquest  of  Edom  by  Amaziah,  xiv.  7. 


104   Old  Testament  Introduction 

in  the  main,  intended  to  be  a  replica  of  Elijah's,  and 
many  of  his  miracles  are  obviously  suggested  by 
his.  The  story  of  Elisha's  resuscitation  of  the  dead 
child  is  an  expansion  of  the  similar  story  told  of 
Elijah  (2  Kings  iv.,  i  Kings  xvii.),  and  his  miracle 
wrought  in  behalf  of  the  widow,  2  Kings  iv.  1-7,  is 
modelled  on  a  similar  miracle  wrought  by  Elijah, 
1  Kings  xvii.  8-16.  There  is  further  an  element 
of  magic  in  his  miracles  which  differentiates  them 
from  Elijah's,  and  throws  them  more  upon  the  level 
of  mediaeval  hagiography  ;  such,  e.g.,  as  the  float- 
ing of  the  iron  upon  the  water,  or  the  raising  of  a 
dead  man  by  contact  with  the  prophet's  bones. 
The  Elijah  narratives,  on  the  other  hand,  represent 
a  higher  type  of  religious  thought.  The  figure  of 
that  great  prophet  may  also  have  been  glorified  by 
tradition,  but  in  any  case  his  was  a  personality  of 
the  most  commanding  power.  He  was  indeed  for- 
tunate in  his  biographer  ;  his  story  is  told  with 
great  dramatic  and  literary  art.  In  its  account  of 
the  struggle  with  the  greed  of  Ahab  and  the  licen- 
tiousness of  Baalism,  it  sheds  a  brilliant  light  upon 
one  of  the  most  crucial  epochs  of  Hebrew  history. 
Even  this  story,  however,  is  not  all  of  a  piece. 
There  is  linguistic  and  other  evidence  that  the 
chapter  (2  Kings  i.),  in  which  two  companies  of 
fifty  men  are  consumed  by  fire  from  heaven  at  the 
word  of  Elijah,  is  very  late.  In  the  story,  which 
is  rather  mechanical  and  lacks  the  splendid  dramatic 
power  of  the  other  Elijah  stories,  the  prophet  is 
only  a  wonder-worker,  and  his  action  is  not  deter- 
mined by  any  moral  consideration.  It  was  not 
so  much  the  spirit  of  Elijah  himself,  but  rather 


King! 


io5 


that  of  the  late  redactor,  that  Jesus  rebuked,  when 
He  said  to  His  disciples,  who  quoted  the  prophet's 
conduct  for  a  precedent,  "  Ye  know  not  what  spirit 
ye  are  of." 

Perhaps  the  chapter  of  least  historical  value  in 
the  book  of  Kings  is  that  in  which  Jeroboam  I  is 
condemned  and  denounced  for  his  idolatry  at 
Bethel  (i  Kings  xiii.).  It  contains  an  unparelleled 
instance  of  predictive  prophecy  :  Josiah  is  foretold  by 
name  three  centuries  before  he  appears,  v,  2.  The 
difficulty  of  this  prediction  is  so  keenly  felt  that  one 
orthodox  commentator  feels  constrained  to  dis- 
pose of  it  by  assuming  that  the  name  is  to  be  taken, 
not  as  a  proper  name,  but  in  its  etymological 
sense  as  one  whom  "  Jehovah  supports."  The 
sudden  withering  of  the  hand  and  its  equally  sudden 
restoration  to  health  are  hardly  more  surprising 
than  the  definite  prediction  of  the  fate  of  the  idola- 
trous priests,  v.  2, — a  prediction  which  appears  to  be 
fulfilled  to  the  letter,  2  Kings  xxiii.  16-18.  But 
when  we  examine  the  account  of  the  fulfilment, 
we  find  that  the  passage  is  later  than  its  context * 
and  inconsistent  with  it.  The  conduct  of  the  "  old 
prophet,"  whose  lying  counsel  is  attributed  to  an 
angel,  is,  morally  considered,  disreputable,  and  it  is 
surely  no  accident  that  the  man  of  God,  whose 
message  and  fate  are  thus  strangely  told,  is  anony- 
mous, though,  as  the  opponent  of  the  famous 
Jeroboam  I,  the  leader  of  the  disruption,  he  ought 
to  have  been  well  known.  The  vagueness  and  im- 
probabilities of  the  story  can  only  be  accounted  for 

1  Verse  16,  in  which  the  bones  are  burned  on  the  altar,  contra- 
dicts v.  15,  in  which  the  altar  is  already  destroyed. 


106  Old  Testament  Introduction 

by  its  very  late  date.  Fortunately  we  are  able  to 
show  that  the  story  is,  at  the  earliest,  post-exilic. 
As  we  have  already  seen,  there  is  an  allusion  in  v.  32 
to  the  cities  of  Samaria,  which  implies  that  Samaria 
was  a  province,  and  stamps  the  passage  at  once  as 
post-exilic.  Even  within  the  post-exilic  period,  it 
probably  falls  quite  late — a  precursor  of  the  book 
of  Chronicles.  The  historical  spirit  is  in  abeyance, 
and  edification  is  the  only  consideration.  The  story 
is  a  late  attempt  to  illustrate  the  great  truth  that 
God's  word  is  immutable  and  must  be  uncom- 
promisingly obeyed. 

The  religious  value  of  the  book  of  Kings  is  general 
rather  than  particular.  There  are  individual  sec- 
tions of  great  religious  power  and  value — most  of  all 
the  great  group  of  Elijah  narratives  ;  but  the  book 
has  been  shorn,  by  the  thoroughness  of  the  redaction, 
of  much  that  would  have  been  of  the  deepest  in- 
terest to  the  modern  student  of  Israel's  religious  no 
less  than  political  development.  Taken  as  a  whole, 
it  has  a  certain  melancholy  grandeur.  Beginning 
in  the  splendid  glitter  of  Solomon's  reign,  the  mon- 
archy passed  with  unsteady  gait  across  the  centuries, 
menaced  by  foes  without  and  within,  and  ended  at 
last  in  the  irretrievable  disaster  of  exile.  But 
through  the  sombre  march  of  history,  a  divine 
purpose  was  being  accomplished.  The  disaster 
which  swallowed  up  the  nation  renewed  and  spiri- 
tualized the  religion,  and  thus  the  seeming  loss 
proved  great  gain. 


Isaiah 

Chapters  i.-xxxix 

Isaiah  is  the  most  regal  of  the  prophets.  His  words 
and  thoughts  are  those  of  a  man  whose  eyes  had  seen 
the  King,  vi.  5.  The  times  in  which  he  lived  were 
big  with  political  problems,  which  he  met  as  a 
statesman  who  saw  the  large  meaning  of  events, 
and  as  a  prophet  who  read  a  divine  purpose  in 
history.  Unlike  his  younger  contemporary  Micah, 
he  was,  in  all  probability,  an  aristocrat ;  and  during 
his  long  ministry  (740-701  B.C.,  possibly,  but  not 
probably  later)  he  bore  testimony,  as  unremitting 
as  it  was  brilliant,  to  the  indefeasible  supremacy  of 
the  unseen  forces  that  shape  history,  and  to  the 
quiet  strength  that  comes  from  confidence  in  God. 

During  this  period  three  events  stand  out  as  of 
unique  importance  :  the  coalition — due  to  fear  of 
Assyria — formed  by  Aram  and  Israel  against  Judah 
in  735  B-c-  (vii.  i-ix.  6),  the  capture  of  Samaria  by 
the  Assyrians  in  721  B.C.,  and  the  deliverance  of 
Jerusalem  in  701  B.C.  from  the  menace  of  Sennac- 
herib. In  these  and  in  all  crises,  Isaiah's  message 
was  a  religious  one,  but  instinct,  as  the  sequel 
showed,  with  political  wisdom.  It  rested  ultimately 
upon  the  vision  with  which  his  ministry  had  been 

107 


108  Old  Testament   Introduction 

inaugurated — the  vision  of  the  King,  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  upon  a  throne  high  and  lifted  up,  whose  glory 
filled  the  whole  earth. 

The  King  was  "  holy,"  partly,  no  doubt,  in  the 
ethical  sense — for  the  man  of  unclean  lips  is  afraid 
in  His  presence — but  also  partly  in  the  older  sense 
of  being  separated,  elevated,  lifted  above  the  chances 
and  changes  of  humanity.  Holiness  here  is  almost 
equivalent  to  majesty,  it  is  the  other  side  of  the 
divine  glory  ;  and  it  is  this  thought  that  inspires  the 
message  of  Isaiah  with  such  serene  confidence.  His 
God  is  on  the  throne  of  the  universe  :  He  is  the  Lord 
of  hosts.  His  purposes  concern  not  only  Judah,  but 
the  whole  world,  xiv.  26,  and  His  kingdom  must 
eventually  come.  Therefore  it  is  that  when,  at  the 
news  of  the  confederacy  of  Aram  and  Israel  against 
Judah,  "the  heart  of  Ahaz  and  his  people  shook  as 
shake  the  forest  trees  before  the  wind,"  vii.  2,  Isaiah 
remains  firm  as  a  rock  ;  for,  to  paraphrase  his  own 
great  alliterative  words,  "  Faith  brings  fixity,"  vii. 
gb.  This  word  of  his  early  ministry  is  also  one  of  his 
latest  (701)  :  "  he  who  believeth  shall  not  give  way," 
xxviii.  16.  That  is  the  precious  foundation  stone 
that  abides  unshaken  amid  the  shock  of  circum- 
stance, and  can  bear  any  weight  that  may  be  thrown 
upon  it.  This,  then,  is  Isaiah's  great  contribution 
to  religion  :  he  is,  before  all  things,  the  prophet  of 
faith.  "  In  quietness  and  confidence  your  strength 
shall  be,"  xxx.  15. 

It  is  easy  from  this  point  of  view  to  understand 
the  scorn  which  Isaiah  heaps  upon  the  common 
objects  of  men's  trust,  whether  ships,  walls  or  towers 
(ii.),  lip-worship,  xxix.   I3f.,  or  the    gorgeous  ser- 


Isaiah 


109 


vices  of  the  sanctuary,  cunning  diplomacy  or  the 
projected  alliance  with  Egypt  or  Assyria  (xxx.). 
Isaiah  is  the  sworn  foe  of  materialism  :  the  contrast 
between  human  and  divine  resource  is  to  him  no- 
thing less  than  infinite.  "  The  Egyptians  are  men, 
and  not  God  ;  and  their  horses  flesh,  and  not  spirit," 
(xxxi.  3).  It  is  in  harmony  with  this  insistence  upon 
the  supremacy  of  the  spiritual  that  Isaiah  regarded 
religion  as  separable  not  only  from  political  form, 
but  even  from  ecclesiastical  organization  ;  for  (if 
the  text  of  viii.  166  can  be  trusted)  he  committed 
his  message  not  to  the  contemporary  church,  but 
to  a  few  disciples,  transforming  thereby  the  existing 
conception  of  the  church,  and  taking  a  step  of 
immeasurable  significance  for  the  development  of 
true  religion. 

The  majesty  and  originality  of  Isaiah's  thought 
have  their  counterpart  in  his  language.  Very 
powerful,  e.g.,  is  his  description  of  the  Assyrian 
army — 

See  !  hastily,  swiftly  he  comes, 

None  weary,  none  stumbling  among  them, 
The  band  of  his  loins  never  loosed, 

The  thong  of  his  shoes  never  torn. 
His  arrows  are  sharpened, 

His  bows  are  all  bent. 
The  hoofs  of  his  horses  are  counted  as  flint, 

And  his  wheels  as  the  whirlwind. 
His  roar  is  like  that  of  the  lioness, 

And  like  the  young  lions  he  roars, 
Thundering,  seizing  the  prey, 
And  bearing  it  off  to  a  place  of  security. 

v.  26-29. 

The  book  is  full  of  poetry  as  fine  as  this.  Whether 
describing  the  mighty  roar  of  the  sea,  xvii.  12-14,  or 


no   Old  Testament  Introduction 

Jehovah's  power  to  defend  Israel,  xxxi.  4,  or  singing 
a  tender  vineyard  song  (v.),  Isaiah  is  equally  at 
home.  He  effects  his  transitions  with  consummate 
skill  :  note,  e.g.,  the  swift  application  he  makes  of 
the  parable  of  the  vineyard,  v.  5-7,  or  the  scathing 
retort  he  makes  to  those  who  complain  of  the 
monotony  and  repetition  of  his  message  (xxviii.  n).1 

The  prophecies  that  fall  within  the  first  thirty- 
nine  chapters  are  practically  all  on  a  very  high 
religious  and  literary  level ;  yet  it  is  all  but  univers- 
ally conceded  that  they  are  not  entirely  from  the 
hand  of  Isaiah.  Some  prophecies,  e.g.  xiii.,  xiv., 
may  be  nearly  two  centuries  later  than  his  time, 
others,  e.g.  xxiv.-xxvii,  four  or  six  ;  indeed  large 
sections  or  fragments  of  the  book  are  relegated  by 
the  more  radical  critics  to  the  second  century  B.C. 
and  connected  with  the  Maccabean  times.  But  even 
the  more  conservative  scholars  admit  that  several 
oracles  of  Isaiah  have  been  worked  over  by  later 
hands,  possibly  by  pupils,  and  that  isolated  sections, 
e.g.  xxiv.-xxvii.,  have  to  be  relegated  to  the  post- 
exilic  age,  and  even  to  a  comparatively  late  period 
within  that  age.  These  questions  can  only  be  settled, 
if  at  all,  by  exegetical,  theological  and  historical 
considerations,  for  which  this  is  not  the  place  ;  but 
in  sketching  the  contents  of  the  various  prophecies, 
the  more  probable  alternatives  will  be  indicated, 
where  a  solution  is  important. 

It  is  plain  that  the  present  order  of  the  book  is 
not  strictly  chronological ;   otherwise  it  would  have 

1  The  real  irony  of  this  passage,  xxviii.  10-13,  can  only  be 
appreciated  in  the  Hebrew. 


Isaiah 


in 


begun  with  the  inaugural  vision  which  now  appears 
in  ch.  vi.  Generally  speaking,  there  are  six  more 
or  less  sharply  articulated  divisions  in  the  first 
thirty-nine  chapters,  i.-xii.,  xiii.-xxiii.,  xxiv.-xxvii., 
xxviii.-xxxiii.,  xxxiv.-xxxv.,  xxxvi.-xxxix. 

Chs.  i.-xii.     Prophecies  concerning  Judah,  Jerusalem 
(and  Israel) 

The  first  division,  like  the  fourth,  deals  in  the  main 
with  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  As  the  next  division, 
xiii.-xxiii.,  deals  with  foreign  peoples,  i.  i  can  serve 
as  a  preface  only  to  the  first  division  and  not  to  the 
whole  book.  The  prophecy  opens  with  an  arraign- 
ment of  Judah,  intensely  ethical  in  spirit.  It  was 
placed  here,  not  because  it  was  first  in  point  of  time, 
but  as  a  sort  of  frontispiece  ;  for,  though  the  dif- 
ferent sections  of  the  ch.,  e.g.  vv.  2-9,  10-20,  may 
come  from  different  times,  the  first  at  any  rate 
implies  the  ravaging  of  Judah,  i.  7,  and  appears  to 
point  to  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib  in  701  B.C.  :  it 
would  thus  be  one  of  the  latest  in  the  book.  The 
land  is  wasted,  the  body  politic  diseased,  i.  1-9  ;  the 
people  seek  the  favour  of  their  God  by  assiduous 
and  costly  ceremony,  which  the  prophet  answers  by 
an  appeal  for  a  moral  instead  of  a  ritual  service, 
vv.  10-20.  But,  as  injustice  and  idolatry  are  ram- 
pant, they  will  be  surely  punished,  vv.  21-31. 

As  a  foil  to  this  picture  of  the  depravity  of  Zion,  a 
foil  also  to  the  immediately  succeeding  description 
of  her  pride  and  idolatry,  is  the  beautiful  vision  of 
Zion  in  the  issue  of  the  days,  ii.  2-5,  as  the  city  to 
which  all  nations  shall  resort  for  religious  instruction, 


ii2   Old  Testament   Introduction 

and  their  obedience  to  the  expressed  will  of  the  God 
of  Zion  will  usher  in  a  reign  of  universal  peace.  The 
passage  appears,  with  an  additional  verse,  in  Micah 
iv.  1-5,  where  it  seems  to  be  preserved  in  a  more 
original  form  ;  yet  Isaiah  can  hardly  have  borrowed 
it  from  Micah,  who  was  younger  than  he.  It  used 
to  be  supposed  that  both  adopted  it  from  an  older 
poet.  But  the  contents  of  the  oracle,  assigning  as 
it  does  a  world-wide  significance  to  Zion,  its  temple, 
and  its  tor  ah,  while  not  absolutely  incompatible  with 
Isaianic  authorship,  rather  point  to  a  post-exilic 
date.  We  are  the  more  at  liberty  to  assume  that 
the  passage  was  later  inserted  as  a  foil  to  the  pre- 
ceding description  of  Zion  as  Sodom,  as  neither  in 
Isaiah  nor  in  Micah  does  it  fit  the  context. 

The  general  theme  of  ii.-iv.  is  the  divine  judgment 
which  will  fall  on  all  the  foolish  pride  of  Judah. 
How  it  will  come,  Isaiah  does  not  say — the  prophecy 
is  one  of  the  earliest  (735  ?) — but  the  storm  that 
will  sweep  across  the  land  will  reveal  the  impotence 
of  superstition  and  idolatry  and  material  resources 
of  every  kind,  ii.  6-22.  All  the  supports  of  Judah's 
political  life  will  be  taken  away  :  indeed,  the  leaders 
are  either  so  weak  or  rapacious  that  the  country  is 
already  as  good  as  ruined,  hi.  1-15  ;  and  the  women, 
who  are  as  guilty  as  the  men,  will  also  be  involved  in 
their  doom,  hi.  16-iv.  1.  Strangely  enough,  this 
eloquent  threat  of  judgment  ends  in  a  vision  of 
comfort  and  peace,  iv.  2-6.  The  land  is  one  day  to 
be  wondrously  fruitful,  her  people  to  be  cleansed 
and  holy,  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah  will  be  over  Zion 
as  a  shelter  and  shade.  The  theological  implications 
of  this  last  passage  seem  late,  and  it  was  probably 


Isaiah  113 


appended  by  another  hand  than  Isaiah's  as  a  con- 
trast and  consolation. 

Then  follows  a  lament,  in  the  form  of  a  vineyard 
song,  which  skilfully  ends  in  a  denunciation  of  Judah, 
the  vineyard  of  Jehovah,  v.  1-7,  merging  thereafter 
into  a  sixfold  woe,  pronounced  upon  her  rapacious 
land-holders,  drunkards,  sceptics,  enemies  of  the 
moral  order,  worldly  wise  men,  besotted  and  unjust 
judges,  v.  8-24.  This  is  fittingly  followed  by  the 
announcement  that  Jehovah  will  summon  against 
Judah  the  swift,  unwearied  and  invincible  hosts  of 
Assyria,  v.  25-30. 

In  the  noble  vision  (740  B.C.)  which  inaugurated 
his  prophetic  ministry  (vi.),  Isaiah  saw  the  glorious 
Jehovah  attended  by  seraphim  and  received  from 
Him  the  call  to  go  forth  and  deliver  his  message  to 
an  unbelieving  people.  This  vision  appropriately 
introduces  the  prophecies  proper  in  vii.-xii. ;  but 
it  is  practically  certain  that  though  the  vision  itself 
was  early,  the  account  of  it  is  later.  The  hopeless- 
ness of  his  prospective  ministry  looks  rather  like  the 
retrospect  of  a  disappointing  experience.  Though 
Isaiah  elsewhere  expresses  his  faith  in  the  salvation 
of  a  remnant,  this  chapter  asserts  the  utter  anni- 
hilation of  the  people,  vv.  11-i^ab.  An  attempt 
has  been  made  to  relieve  the  gloom  in  the  last  clause 
of  the  chapter,  v.  13c,  by  a  comparison  of  the  stump 
of  the  tree  that  remained,  after  felling,  to  the  holy 
seed  ;  but  this  clause,  which  is  wanting  in  the 
Septuagint,  and  utterly  blunts  the  keen  edge  of  the 
prophecy,  is  no  part  of  the  original  chapter. 

The  next  section,  vii.  i-ix.  6,  plunges  us  into  the 
war  which  the  allied  arms  of  Aram  and  Israel  waged 


ii4   Old  Testament  Introduction 

against  Judah  in  735,  doubtless  in  the  desire  to 
force  her  to  join  a  coalition  against  Assyria.  Isaiah, 
vii.  1-17,  seeks  to  reassure  the  faith  of  the  trembling 
king  Ahaz  ;  and  when  Ahaz  refuses  to  put  the 
prophetic  word  to  the  test,  Isaiah  boldly  declares 
that  the  land  will  be  delivered  from  the  menace 
before  two  or  three  years  are  over  ;  and  many  a 
child — or  it  may  be  some  particular  child — soon  to 
be  born,  will  be  given  the  name  Immanuel,  and  will 
thereby  bear  witness  to  the  faith  that,  despite  the 
stress  of  invasion,  God  will  not  forget  His  people, 
but  that  He  "  is  with  us."  *  To  the  same  period, 
but  probably  not  the  same  occasion,  belongs  the 
prophecy  of  the  devastation  of  Judah  by  Assyria, 
vii.  18-25.  But  the  blow  is  to  fall  first,  and  within 
two  or  three  years,  on  Aram  and  Israel,  with  their 
respective  capitals.  It  did  not  fall  so  quickly  as 
Isaiah  had  expected  :  Damascus  was  indeed  taken 
in  732,  but  Samaria  not  till  721  :  in  spirit,  however, 
if  not  in  the  letter,  the  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  viii. 
1-4.  The  unbelief  of  Judah  will  also  be  punished 
by  the  hosts  of  Assyria,  but  the  ultimate  purpose  of 
Jehovah  will  not  be  frustrated,  viii.  5-10.  He  alone 
is  to  be  feared,  and  no  combination  of  confederate 
kings  need  alarm,  viii.  n-15.  The  prophet  com- 
mits his  message  to  his  disciples,  and  with  patience 
and  confidence  looks  for  vindication  to  the  future, 
viii.  16-18.  Desperate  days  would  come,  viii.  19-91, 
but  they  would  be  followed  by  a  brilliant  day  of 
redemption  when  Jehovah  would  remove  the  yoke 
from  the  shoulder  of  His  burdened  people  by  send- 
ing them  a  glorious  prince  with  the  fourfold  name. 

1  vii.  8&  is  no  doubt  a  gloss. 


Isaiah  115 

This  latter  prophecy,  ix.  2-7,  has  been  denied  to 
Isaiah,  but  apparently  with  insufficient  reason. 
The  passage  falls  very  naturally  into  its  context. 
The  northern  districts  of  Israel  (ix.  1)  had  been 
ravaged  by  Assyria  in  734  B.C.  (2  Kings  xv.  29),  and 
upon  this  darkness  it  is  fitting  that  the  great  light 
should  shine  ;  and  the  yoke  to  be  broken  might  well 
be  the  heavy  tribute  Judah  was  now  obliged  to  pay. 
There  are  undoubted  difficulties,  e.g.  the  mention 
of  a  Davidic  king,  ix.  7,  after  a  specific  reference  to 
the  fortunes  of  Israel  over  which  the  Davidic  king 
had  no  jurisdiction  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  we  do 
not  possess  the  oracle  in  its  original  form  or  com- 
pleteness. But,  in  any  case,  the  vision  of  the 
righteous  and  prosperous  king  ruling  over  a  delivered 
people  fittingly  closes  this  series  of  somewhat  loosely 
connected  oracles. 

The  next  section,  ix.  8-x.  4,  forms  a  very  artistic 
whole,  consisting  of  four  strophes,  each  of  four  verses,1 
concluding  with  the  refrain — 

For  all  this  His  wrath  is  not  turned, 
And  His  hand  is  stretched  out  still. 

The  poem,  which  falls  about  734,  lashes  the  pride 
and  ambition  of  Israel  (not  Judah)  and  threatens 
her  people  with  loss  of  territory  and  population, 
anarchy  and  civil  war.  The  passage  was  probably 
originally  followed  by  v.  26-29,  which  has  a  similar 
refrain,  and  which,  with  its  vivid  description  of  the 
terrible  Assyrian  army,  would  form  an  admirable 
climax  to  this  poem. 

Chs.  x.  5-xii.  6.     Assyria,  then,  is  the  instrument 

1  Ch.  ix.  8  is  an  introduction  and  v.  1 3  an  interpolation. 


1 1 6   Old  Testament    Introduction 

with  which  Jehovah  chastises  Israel.  But  because 
she  executes  her  task  in  a  spirit  of  presumption  and 
pride,  she  in  her  turn  is  doomed  to  destruction  ;  but 
the  remnant  of  Jehovah's  people  will  be  saved, 
x.  5-27.  The  gradual  approach  of  the  Assyrians  to 
Jerusalem  is  then  described  in  language  full  of 
word-play,  vv.  28-32,  which  forcibly  reminds  us  of 
a  very  similar  passage  in  Isaiah's  contemporary 
Micah,  i.  10-15.  This  chapter  is  probably  about 
twenty  years  later  than  those  that  immediately  pre- 
cede it.  There  is  an  obvious  advance  in  the  pro- 
phet's attitude  to  Assyria,  and  the  boast  in  vv.  9-1 1 
carries  the  chapter  later  than  the  fall  of  Samaria 
(721)  and  Carchemish  (717).  It  is  even  possible 
that  the  description  of  the  Assyrian  advance  in 
vv.  28-32  implies  Sennacherib's  campaign  in  Judah 
in  701. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  enemy  before  Jeru- 
salem in  x.  33,  34  follows  an  enthusiastic  description 
of  the  Messianic  king — of  his  wisdom  and  justice, 
and  of  the  universal  peace  which  will  extend  even 
to  the  animal  world,  xi.  1-9.  It  is  the  counterpart 
of  ix.  2-7,  though  here  again,  and  perhaps  with  more 
reason,  the  Isaianic  authorship  has  been  doubted. 
The  peculiar  emphasis  upon  the  equipment  with  the 
spirit  is  hardly,  in  these  ethical  relationships,  de- 
monstrably pre-exilic,  and  the  "  stem  "  out  of  which 
the  shoot  is  to  grow  suggests  that  the  monarchy  had 
fallen,  but  the  word  may  possibly  be  used  to  indicate 
its  decadent  condition.  In  any  case,  there  seems 
very  little  doubt  that  the  rest  of  the  section,  xi. 
10-xii.  6,  strikingly  appropriate  as  it  is  in  this  place, 
is  post-exilic.     It  describes  how  in  the  Messianic 


Isaiah  117 

days  just  pictured,  the  exiles  of  Israel  and  Judah 
will  be  gathered  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  their 
own  land,  where  their  near  neighbours  will  all  be 
vanquished,  xi.  10-16.  Then  follows  a  simple  song 
of  gratitude  for  the  redemption  Jehovah  has  wrought, 
xii.  The  presuppositions  of  the  dispersion  here  de- 
scribed are  not  such  as  fit  into  Isaiah's  time ;  they 
would  not  even  apply  to  the  conditions  after  the  fall 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  exile  of  Judah  in  586,  still 
less  to  the  fall  of  Samaria  and  the  exile  of  Israel  in 
721 — the  passage  must  be  post-exilic.  But  though 
much  later  than  Isaiah's  time  it  forms  a  very  skilful 
conclusion  to  the  first  division  of  his  book,  and  is  an 
admirable  counterpart  to  the  gloomy  scenes  of  ch.  i. 

Chs.  xiii.-xxiii.     Prophecies  concerning  foreign 
nations 

Chs.  xiii.  i-xiv.  23.  The  Downfall  of  Babylon. 
The  oracle  concerning  Babylon,  the  first  of  the  series 
of  oracles  concerning  foreign  nations,  is  one  of  the 
most  magnificent  odes  in  literature.  A  day  of 
destruction  to  be  executed  by  the  Medes  is  coming 
upon  Babylon  the  proud  (xiii.)  and  the  exiles  will 
return  to  their  own  land,  xiv.  1-3.  The  triumph 
song  that  follows  discloses  a  weird  scene  in  the  under- 
world, where  the  fallen  king  of  Babylon  receives  an 
ironical  welcome  from  the  shadow-kings  of  the  other 
nations.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  prophecy 
is  not  by  Isaiah.  It  glows  with  a  passionate  hatred 
of  Babylon  ;  but  the  Babylon  which  figured  in  the 
days  of  Isaiah  (xxxix.)  was  only  a  province  of 
Assyria,  not  an  independent  and  oppressive  world- 
power  ;   nor  would  its  destruction  have  meant  the 


1 1 8    Old  Testament  Introduction 

return  of  the  exiles  of  northern  Israel.  The  situation 
is  plainly  that  of  the  period  during  the  later  exile  of 
Judah  before  the  capture  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus  in 
538,  as  the  horrors  which  the  poet  anticipated 
xiii.  I5f .)  did  not  take  place. 

In  the  spirit  of  ch.  x.,  xiv.  24-27  proclaims  the 
invincible  triumph  of  Jehovah's  purpose  and  the 
destruction  of  the  Assyrians  in  the  land  of  Judah. 
The  assassination  of  Sargon  in  705  B.C.  was  the  cause 
of  wild  rejoicing  throughout  the  western  vassal 
states  :  the  joy  of  Philistia  is  rebuked  by  the 
prophet  in  vv.  28-32  with  the  warning  that  worse  is 
yet  in  store — an  allusion,  no  doubt,  to  an  expected 
Assyrian  invasion.  If  this  be  the  theme  of  the 
passage,  v.  28  can  hardly  be  correct,  as  Ahaz  had 
died  ten  or  twenty  years  before. 

Chs.  xv.,  xvi.  Oracle  concerning  Moab.  The 
subscription  to  this  prophecy,  xvi.  13,  indicates  that 
we  have  here  an  older  prophetic  oracle,  given  "  here- 
tofore." Strictly  speaking,  it  is  not  so  much  a 
prophecy  as  an  elegy  over  the  fate  of  Moab  whose 
land  had  been  devastated  by  an  invader  from  the 
north.  The  fugitives,  arriving  in  Edom,  send  in 
vain  for  help  to  the  people  of  Judah.  Who  the 
invader  was  it  is  hard  to  say — possibly  Jeroboam 
II  of  Israel,  whose  conquests  were  extensive  (2  Kings 
xiv.  25  ;  Amos  vi.  14).  The  oracle,  besides  being 
diffuse,  is  altogether  destitute  of  higher  prophetic 
thought,  and  is  certainly  not  Isaiah's,  though  he 
adapted  it  to  the  existing  situation  and  foretold  a 
similar  and  speedy  devastation  of  Moab,' no  doubt 
at  the  hands  of  the  Assyrians,  xvi.  14. 

Ch.  xvii.  i-ii.    This  prophecy  concerning  Aram 


Isaiah  1 1  g 

and  Israel  falls,  no  doubt,  within  the  period  when 
these  two  countries  were  leagued  against  Judah, 
about  735.  The  doom  of  Aram  is  to  be  utter  de- 
struction ;  that  of  Israel,  all  but  utter  destruction. 

In  the  next  two  passages,  xvii.  12-14,  xviii., 
Isaiah  appears  to  return  to  his  favourite  theme  of 
the  sure  destruction  of  the  Assyrians,  though  they 
are  not  mentioned  by  name.  In  xvii.  12-14  their 
hosts  are  compared  "to  the  noise  of  many  waters, 
while  in  xviii.  their  doom  is  announced  by  the 
prophet  in  answer  to  an  embassy  sent  by  the  Ethio- 
pians, who  were  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  an  inva- 
sion by  the  Assyrians,  doubtless  under  Sennacherib. 

Ch.  xix.  Oracle  concerning  Egypt.  For  Egypt 
the  prophet  announces  a  doom  of  civil  war,  oppres- 
sion at  the  hands  of  a  hard  master,  and  public  and 
private  distress  which  will  issue  in  despair,  vv.  1-17. 
In  their  terror,  however,  the  Egyptians  will  cry  to 
Jehovah,  who  will  reveal  Himself  to  them  and  be  in 
consequence  honoured  and  worshipped  on  Egyptian 
soil.  Then  a  triple  alliance  will  be  formed  between 
Egypt,  Assyria  and  Israel,  and  they  shall  all  be 
Jehovah's  people,  vv.  18-25. 

The  dream  of  such  an  alliance  is  very  attractive 
and  not  too  bold  for  so  original  a  thinker  as  Isaiah. 
But  the  passage  is  beset  by  difficulties.  The  attitude 
to  Egypt  appears  to  be  much  friendlier  in  vv.  18-25 
than  in  vv.  1-17  ;  and  it  seems  quite  impossible  to 
find  within  Isaiah's  age  a  place  for  five  (  =  several  ?) 
Hebrew-speaking  cities  in  Egypt,  v.  18,  whereas  such 
a  reference  would  excellently  fit  the  later  post-exilic 
time  when  there  were  extensive  Jewish  colonies  in 
Egypt.*-  If  the  city  specially  mentioned  at  the  end 


120   Old  Testament  Introduction 

of  the  verse  be,  as  it  seems  to  be,  either  Sun-city 
(Heliopolis)  or  Lion-city  (Leontopolis)  then  it  would 
not  be  unnatural  to  find,  in  the  next  verse,  with  its 
worship  of  Jehovah  upon  Egyptian  soil,  a  reference 
to  the  founding  of  a  temple  at  Leontopolis  by 
Onias  in  160  B.C.  In  that  case,  Assyria  in  v.  23 
stands,  as  occasionally  elsewhere,  for  Syria,  from 
which  Israel  had  suffered  more  severely  during  the 
second  century  B.C.  than  the  earlier  Israel  from 
Assyria  ;  and  the  dream  of  Palestine,  Syria,  and 
Egypt,  united  in  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  would 
be  just  as  striking  and  generous  in  the  second  cen- 
tury as  in  the  eighth.  At  first,  v.  19  seems  to  tell 
powerfully  in  favour  of  the  Isaianic  authorship,  as 
the  massebah  (pillar)  here  regarded  as  innocent  was 
proscribed  a  century  after  Isaiah  by  the  Deuterono- 
mic  law  (Deut.  xii.  3).  But  the  Egyptian  Jews  may 
not  have  been  so  stringent  as  the  Palestinian,  or  we 
may  even  suppose  that  the  "  pillar  "  has  here  nothing 
to  do  with  worship,  but  stands,  for  some  other  pur- 
pose, on  the  boundary  line.  There  is  no  adequate 
reason,  however,  why  w.  1-17,  or  at  least  vv.  1-15, 
should  not  be  assigned  to  Isaiah. 

In  ch.  xx.  (711  B.C.,  cf.  v.  1,  capture  of  Ashdod) 
Isaiah  indicates  in  symbolic  prophecy — which,  how- 
ever, was  not  fulfilled — that  the  people  of  Egypt  and 
Ethiopia  would  be  deported  by  the  Assyrians.  The 
prophet's  object  was  to  dissuade  the  people  of  Judah 
from  the  Egyptian  alliance  which  they  were  con- 
templating. 

The  theme  of  xxi.  1-10  is  the  same  as  that  of  xiii., 
xiv. — the  impending  fate  of  Babylon — and  the 
passages  may  be  almost  contemporary.    Warriors 


Isaiah  1 2  i 

of  Elam  and  Media  are  sent  against  Babylon,  and 
the  issue  is  awaited  with  tremulous  excitement,  till 
at  last  the  watchman  proclaims  the  welcome  news, 
"  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen."  The  importance  here 
assigned  to  Babylon  and  her  fall,  the  express  mention 
of  Elam  and  Media,  v.  2,  as  her  assailants,  and  the 
description  of  Jehovah's  people  as  "threshed" 
point  unmistakably  to  the  last  years  of  the  exile, 
after  the  rise  of  Cyrus  in  549,  and  before  the  fall  of 
Babylon  in  538,  so  that  the  passage  cannot  be  from 
Isaiah.  With  this  seems  to  go  the  next  little 
enigmatic  oracle  concerning  Edom,  xxi.  n,  12, 
whose  fate,  as  affected  by  the  fall  of  Babylon,  is  as 
yet  uncertain.  The  desert  tribes,  xxi.  13-17*  wil1 
also  be  affected  by  the  general  upheaval  and  be 
driven  from  the  regular  caravan  routes. 

Ch.  xxii.  is  the  only  chapter  in  this  division 
(xiii.-xxiii.)  which  is  not  concerned  with  foreign 
nations.  It  probably  owes  its  place  here  to  its 
peculiar  superscription  which  conforms  to  the  other 
superscription  in  xiii.-xxiii.  In  this  chapter  the 
prophet  laments  and  very  sternly  rebukes  the 
frivolity  of  the  people  of  Jerusalem— whether  shortly 
before  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib  or  after  his  re- 
treat, it  is  hard  to  say.  Trusting  in  their  armour 
and  fortifications  they  give  the  rein  to  their  appetites, 
but  he  solemnly  declares  that  their  sin  will  be  pun- 
ished with  death. 

Unique  among  the  oracles  of  Isaiah  are  the  two 
pieces,  xxii.  15-18  and  19-25,  which  deal  with  per- 
sons. Shebna,  one  of  the  court  officials  and  probably 
a  foreigner,  is  threatened  with  exile  and  the  conse- 
quent loss  of  his  office  :    probably  he  championed 


122    Old  Testament  Introduction 

the  policy  of  an  Egyptian  alliance.  His  place  will 
be  taken,  according  to  Isaiah,  by  Eliakim,  who, 
curiously  enough,  is  threatened  in  his  turn.  Prob- 
ably vv.  19-23  are  an  adaptation  of  2  Kings  xviii.  18, 
where  Eliakim  is  holding  an  office  here  held  by 
Shebna,  while  Shebna  is  only  a  scribe. 

A  prophetic  lament  over  Tyre  (xxiii.)  concludes 
the  oracles  dealing  with  the  foreign  peoples.  The 
glad  ancient  merchant  city  will  be  brought  to  silence, 
vv.  1-14,  though  after  seventy  years  she  is  to  be 
revived,  and  the  proceeds  of  her  traffic  are  to  be 
enjoyed  by  the  people  of  Jerusalem,  vv.  15-18. 
There  was  a  siege  of  Tyre  during  Isaiah's  time,  but 
it  is  probably  not  that  which  is  celebrated  here,  as 
the  poem  lacks  the  nobility  and  grandeur  of  the 
prophet's  style.  If  the  oracle  is  held  to  imply  the 
conquest  of  Tyre,  it  would  require  to  be  brought 
down  to  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great ;  but  it 
may  well  be  only  an  anticipatory  lament  and  there- 
fore earlier,  contemporary  perhaps  with  a  similar 
oracle  of  Ezekiel  concerning  the  siege  of  Tyre 
(Ez.  xxvi.-xxviii.)  Verses  15-18  are  clearly  depen- 
dent on  Jeremiah's  view  of  the  duration  of  the  Chal- 
dean oppression  (Jer.  xxv.  11,  xxix.  10) ;  and  the 
whole  chapter  may  be  exilic. 

Chs.    xxiv.-xxvii.     Late   prophecy   concerning    the 
glorious  issue  of  some  world-catastrophe 

This  section  is  very  peculiar,  obscure,  and  in  the 
Old  Testament  altogether  unique.  Contemporary 
historical  facts  are  seen  now  in  the  lurid  light  of  fear, 
more  often  in  the  more  brilliant  light  of  eschatolo- 


Isaiah  123 

gical  hopes.  In-ch.  xxiv.  a  great  catastrophe  is  im- 
pending. The  world  is  weary,  and  joy  has  vanished. 
The  city  (Jerusalem  ?)  is  desolate.  Something  has 
happened  to  revive  Jewish  hopes  and  kindle  high 
expectations  as  to  the  issue  of  the  coming  calamity, 
but  in  the  immediate  future  new  woes  are  impending 
— the  earth  will  reel ;  on  that  day,  however,  Jeho- 
vah will  suddenly  punish  the  powers  supernatural 
and  terrestrial,  and  come  down  to  reign  in  glory  on 
Mount  Zion.  Then  (xxv.)  follows  an  enthusiastic 
song  of  praise,  because  a  certain  strong  city  (un- 
named) has  been  laid  low.  A  great  banquet  is  pre- 
pared on  Zion  for  all  the  sorrow-ridden  nations  of 
the  world — emblem  of  their  reception  into  the  King- 
dom of  God— tears  are  wiped  from  every  eye,  and, 
with  their  reproach  removed,  the  Jews  praise  their 
God  for  the  victory.  Another  song  of  praise  follows 
in  xx vi.  i-xxvii.  i  for  the  power  with  which  Jehovah 
has  defended  His  own  city,  and  laid  her  proud  rival 
low.  The  wicked  will  not  learn  from  the  divine 
judgments  ;  but,  while  they  are  destroyed,  not  only 
do  Jehovah's  own  people  increase,  but  their  dead 
are  restored  to  life,  to  participate  in  His  glorious 
kingdom  ;  and  the  dragon  is  smitten.  Then  follows 
xxvii.  2-6,  a  song  of  the  vineyard — counterpart  to 
v.  1-7 — which  praises  Jehovah's  care  for  Judah, 
with  whom  He  is  angry  no  more.  Her  rival  shall 
become  a  desolation,  but  she  herself  shall  be  for- 
given and  re-established,  if  only  she  remove  all  signs 
of  heathen  worship,  and  from  the  ends  of  the  earth 
her  exiled  sons  shall  gather  to  worship  at  Jerusalem. 
The  origin  of  this  piece  is  wrapped  in  obscurity  ; 
and  it  would  seem  that  the  author,  for  some  reason, 


124   OW   Testament  Introduction 

deliberately  concealed  the  historical  situation.  It 
is  not  even  certain  that  the  piece  is  a  unity  :  the 
song,  e.g.,  in  xxv.  1-5  interrupts  the  description  of 
judgment,  and  the  connection  is  occasionally  loose. 
There  is  no  clue  to  what  is  meant  by  the  strong  city 
which  is  to  be  overthrown.  It  is  plain,  however, 
that  the  writer  lived  in  Palestine,  doubtless  in  or  near 
Jerusalem,  xxv.  6,  7,  at  a  time  when  the  Jews  were 
scattered  throughout  many  lands,  xxiv.  14-16,  xxvii. 
12,  13,  and  when  there  were  at  least  three  great 
world  powers,  xxvii.  1.  This  could  hardly  have 
been  earlier  than  the  end  of  the  Persian  period,  and 
probably  the  tidings  that  rang  from  the  isles  of  the 
sea,  xxiv.  14,  15,  were  those  of  the  victorious  ad- 
vance of  Alexander  the  Great.  No  earlier  date 
would  suit  the  theological  implications  of  the  pas- 
sage :  e.g.  the  judgment  upon  the  hosts  of  heaven, 
xxiv.  21,  22  (cf.  Dan.  xi.),  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  xxvi.  19,  the  banquet  of  the  nations  on  Zion, 
xxv.  6.  The  style  of  the  passage  is  nearly  as  pecu- 
liar as  its  thought,  it  abounds  in  assonance  and 
alliteration.  It  is  assigned  by  some  to  the  close  of 
the  second  century  B.C.  ;  but,  in  any  case,  it  can 
hardly  be  earlier  than  the  later  half  of  the  fourth 
century  B.C.,  and  may  well  express  the  wild  expecta- 
tions to  which  disappointed  Jewish  hearts  were  lifted 
by  the  conquests  of  Alexander. 

Chs.  xxviii.-xxxiii.    Prophecies    concerning    Judah 
and  Jerusalem 

We  now  return  to  the  undoubted  prophecies  of 
Isaiah.    This  group  begins  with  a  woe,  xxviii.  1-4, 


Isaiah 


"5 


pronounced  not  long  before  the  fall  of  Samaria  in 
721  B.C.,  ending  in  two  verses,  5,  6,  presenting  an- 
other outlook,  apparently  by  a  later  hand.  In  vv. 
7-22,  probably  about  the  time  of  the  Egyptian  alli- 
ance, Judah  is  also  threatened  for  the  drunkenness 
of  her  leaders,  and  for  the  false  confidence  which 
leads  the  people  scornfully  to  close  their  ears  to 
prophetic  instruction.  The  interesting  little  section 
which  follows,  vv.  23-29,  shows  how  the  farmer 
adapts  his  methods  to  the  particular  work  he  has  to 
do.  The  connection,  however,  is  anything  but  ob- 
vious :  it  may  be  intended  as  a  reminder  to  the 
sceptics  of  Judah  that  the  divine  penalties,  though 
slow,  v.  19,  are  sure  ;  or  it  may  be  meant  to  suggest 
that  God's  judgments  are  tempered  with  mercy. 
To  the  same  period  belongs  the  prophecy  of  the  dis- 
tress that  is  to  be  inflicted  on  Ariel,  i.e.  Jerusalem, 
by  "  a  great  multitude  of  all  the  nations,"  clearly 
Sennacherib's  army,  xxix.  1-15  ;  but  in  a  prophecy, 
probably  much  later,  which  is  dramatically  appended 
to  it,  a  promise  of  redemption  and  restoration  is  held 
out,  xxix.  16-24. 

In  xxx.,  xxxi.,  also  before  the  invasion  of  Senna- 
cherib, the  prophet  denounces  the  folly  of  trusting 
the  impotent  aid  of  Egypt,  when  their  real  strength 
lay  in  quietly  trusting  their  God  :  for  Jehovah  will 
smite  the  Assyrian  with  a  mysterious  blow  and  de- 
fend his  dear  Jerusalem.  Though  such  promises 
undoubtedly  fall  within  the  range  of  Isaiah's  mes- 
sage, the  ideas  and  the  general  tone  of  xxx.  18-26 
are  sufficient  to  place  that  passage  almost  certainly 
in  the  post-exilic  period.  Against  the  background 
of  calamity  in  the  two  preceding  chapters,  xxxii.  1-8 


126   Old  Testament  Introduction 

throws  up  a  picture — whether  from  Isaiah's  or  a 
later  hand — of  the  Messianic  age,  when  rulers  would 
be  just  and  character  transformed.  The  imminent 
desolation  of  Jerusalem,  with  which  the  women  are 
threatened,  is  again  immediately  contrasted  with  the 
fruitfulness  and  security  of  the  land,  when  the  spirit 
will  be  poured  out  from  on  high,  xxxii.  9-20. 

This  group  is  closed  by  a  song  of  triumph  (xxxiii.) 
over  the  prospective  annihilation  of  the  foreign  foes 
who  have  crushed  Israel,  by  the  glorious  God  who 
defends  Jerusalem.  There  is  much  in  the  passage, 
especially  towards  the  end,  vv.  19-21,  which  looks  as 
if  the  Assyrians  were  the  enemy,  and  the  prophecy, 
like  most  of  those  in  this  group,  fell  shortly  before 
Sennacherib's  invasion.  But,  besides  lacking  the 
vigour  of  Isaiah's  acknowledged  prophecies,  the 
passage  contains  ideas  which  are  hardly  his  :  e.g. 
the  sinners  in  Zion,  v.  14,  are  not  to  be  destroyed  but 
forgiven,  v.  24.  The  allusion  to  the  king  in  v.  17,  if 
the  text Js  correct,  helps  us  little,  as  the  king  may  be 
Jehovah.  There  is  a  growing  conviction  that  the 
passage  is  post-exilic,  some  scholars  even  bringing 
it  down  to  the  Maccabean  times,  about  163  B.C. 

Chs.    xxxiv.,    xxxv.     Prophecy  concerning  the 
redemption  mid  return  of  Israel. 

A  fitting  conclusion  to  the  whole  book — ignoring 
xxxvi.-xxxix.,  which  is  an  historical  appendix — is 
afforded  by  the  picture  of  the  world-judgment,  the 
redemption  of  Israel,  and  the  destruction  of  her 
enemies  in  xxxiv.,  xxxv.  Edom  is  singled  out  as 
the  special  object  of  Jehovah's  vengeance,  xxxiv. 


Isaiah  127 

5-17  ;  and,  in  contrast  to  her  desolation,  is  the 
blessedness  of  Israel,  returning  to  her  own  land 
across  the  blossoming  wilderness  with  exceeding  joy. 
Ch.  xxxv.,  at  any  rate,  seems  to  point  to  the  return 
of  the  exiles  from  Babylon,  and  ch.  xxxiv.  may  also 
without  violence  be  fitted  into  this  time.  The  Jews 
never  forgot  or  forgave  the  Edomites  for  their 
cruelty  on  the  occasion  of  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem (Lam.  iv.  2ifL,  Ps.  cxxxvii.  7)  and  the  joy  of 
their  own  redemption  would  be  heightened  by  the 
ruin  of  Edom  (Mai.  i.  2-5).  If,  however,  xxxiv.  16 
implies,  as  we  are  not  bound  to  believe,  a  fixed  pro- 
phetic canon,  the  chapters  would  be  very  late,  falling 
somewhere  within  the  second  century  B.C.  More 
probably  they  were  written,  like  xiii.,  xiv.,  towards 
the  end  of  the  exile. 


xxxvi.-xxxix.    Historical  Appendix 

Separating  the  earlier  from  the  later  of  the  two 
great  divisions  of  the  book  of  Isaiah  (i.-xxxv.}  xl.- 
lxvi.)  stands  a  purely  historical  section,  practically 
identical  with  and  probably  borrowed  from  2  Kings 
xviii.  13-xx.  19,  which  finds  its  place  here,  no  doubt 
simply  because  of  its  connection  with  the  prophet 
Isaiah.  It  tells  the  story  of  Sennacherib's  invasion 
of  Judah,  his  insulting  demands,  whether  trans- 
mitted through  the  Rabshakeh  (xxxvi.)  or  by  letter 
(xxxvii.),  of  Hezekiah's  terror  and  Isaiah's  divine 
word  of  reassurance,  and  of  the  ultimate  departure 
of  the  Assyrian  army.  Ch.  xxxviii.  contains  Isaiah's 
propheey  to  Hezekiah  of  his  recovery  from  sickness, 
with  the  king's  song  of  gratitude.     This  is  followed 


128    Old  Testament  Introduction 

by  another  prophecy  of  the  Babylonian  exile,  occa- 
sioned by  an  embassy  sent  to  Hezekiah  by  Merodach 
Baladan,  king  of  Babylon  (xxxix.). 

This  account  omits  the  very  important  statement 
in  2  Kings  xviii.  14-16  of  the  heavy  tribute  paid  by 
Hezekiah  to  the  King  of  Assyria,  and  inserts  the 
psalm  of  Hezekiah,  xxxviii.  9-20,  which  is  no  doubt 
later  than  the  redaction  of  the  book  of  Kings  as  it  is 
not  found  there,  and  is,  in  all  probability,  a  post- 
exilic  psalm.     It  is  not  certain  whether  the  accounts 
in  xxx vi.  i-xxxvii.  ga  and  xxxvii.  96-37  are  simply 
parallel  versions  of  the  same  incident,  or  refer  to  two 
different  campaigns.     In  the  distinctly  prophetical 
portion,  xxxvii.  22ff.,  though  there  is  much  that  re- 
calls Isaiah,  the  passage  in  its  present  form  can 
hardly  be  his.     Ch.  xxxvii.  26,  e.g.  would  be  a  per- 
tinent appeal  to  Israel,  but  hardly  to  Sennacherib  ;  it 
rests,  no  doubt,  on  the  later  Isaiah  (xl.  28,  xlvi.  11). 
The  prophecy  of  exile  to  Babylon,  xxxix.  6,  7,  is  not 
natural  at  a  time  when  Assyria,  not  Babylon,  was 
the  enemy.     Again,  xxxvii.  33,  which  denies  that 
even  an  arrow  would  be  shot,  is  hardly  reconcileable 
with  Isaiah's  prophecy  of  an  arduous  siege  for  the 
city,  xxix.  1-4.     Further,  the  minute  prediction  that 
Hezekiah's  life  would  be  prolonged  for  fifteen  years  is 
not  in  the  manner  of  Isaiah,  nor  indeed  of  any  of  the 
great  prophets,  whose  precise  numbers,  where  they 
occur,  are  to  be  interpreted  as  round  numbers  (e.g. 
seventy  years  in  Jer.  xxv.  n,  xxix.  10)  ;    and  the 
story  of  the  reversal  of  the  shadow  on  the  sun-dial 
reflects  the  later  conception  of  the  prophet  as  a 
miracle-worker  (cf.  1  Kings  xiii.  3-6).     The  section, 
in  its  present  form,  must  be  post-exilic, 


Isaiah  129 

Chapters  xl.-lv. 

With  ch.  xl.  we  pass  into  a  different  historical  and 
theological  atmosphere  from  that  of  the  authentic 
prophecies  of  Isaiah.  The  very  first  word,  "  Com- 
fort ye,"  strikes  a  new  note  :  in  the  main,  the  mes- 
sage of  Isaiah  had  been  one  of  judgment.  Jerusalem 
and  the  cities  of  Judah  are  in  ruins,  xlv.  13.  The 
people  are  in  exile  in  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans,  xlvii. 
5,  6,  from  which  they  are  on  the  point  of  being  de- 
livered, xlviii.  20.  The  time  of  her  sorrow  is  all  but 
over,  xl.  2  ;  and  her  redemption  is  to  come  through 
a  great  warrior  who  is  twice  expressly  named  as 
Cyrus,  xliv.  28,  xlv.  1,  and  occasionally  alluded  to 
as  a  figure  almost  too  familiar  to  need  naming,  xli. 
25,  xlv.  13.  He  it  is  who  is  to  overthrow  Babylon, 
xlviii.  14.  Such,  then,  is  the  situation  :  the  exile  is 
not  predicted,  it  is  presupposed,  and  the  oppressor 
is  not  Assyria,  as  in  Isaiah's  time,  but  Babylon. 
Now  it  is  a  cardinal,  indeed  an  obvious  principle,  of 
prophecy  that  the  prophet  addresses  himself,  at 
least  primarily,  to  the  situation  of  his  own  time. 
Prophecy  is  a  moral,  not  a  magical  thing  ;  and  no- 
thing would  be  gained  by  the  delivery  of  a  message 
over  a  century  and  a  half  before  it  was  needed,  to  a 
people  to  whom  it  was  irrelevant  and  unintelligible. 
The  literary  style  of  these  chapters  also  differs 
widely  from  that  of  Isaiah.  No  doubt  there  are 
points  of  contact,  notably  in  the  fondness  for  the 
phrase,  "  the  holy  One  of  Israel  "—a  favourite  phrase 
of  Isaiah's  and  rare  elsewhere.  The  influence  of 
Isaiah  is  unmistakable,  but  the  differences  are  no 
less  striking.     Isaiah  mounts  up  on  wings  as  an 

9 


130   Old  Testament  Introduction 

eagle  :  the  later  prophet  neither  mounts  nor  runs, 
he  walks,  xl.  31.  He  has  not  the  older  prophet's 
majesty  ;  he  has  a  quiet  dignity,  and  his  tone  is  more 
tender.  Nor  has  he  Isaiah's  exuberance  and  fer- 
tility of  resource  :  the  same  thoughts  are  repeated, 
though  with  pleasing  and  ingenious  variations,  over 
and  over  again.  All  his  characteristic  thoughts 
already  appear  in  the  first  two  chapters  :  the  cer- 
tainty and  joy  of  Israel's  redemption,  the  omnipo- 
tence of  Jehovah  and  the  absurdity  of  idolatry,  the 
call  of  Cyrus  to  execute  Jehovah's  purpose,  the  ulti- 
mate design  of  that  purpose  as  the  bringing  of  the 
whole  world,  through  redeemed  Israel,  to  a  know- 
ledge of  the  true  God. 

The  theological  ideas  of  the  prophecy  are  different 
from  those  of  Isaiah.     Unique  emphasis  is  laid  on 
the  creative  power  of  Jehovah,  and  this  thought  is 
applied  to  the  case  of  forlorn  Israel  with  overwhelm- 
ing effect  ;  for  it  is  none  other  than  the  eternal  and 
omnipotent  God  that  is  about  to  reveal  Himself  as 
Israel's  redeemer,  in  fulfilment  of  ancient  words  of 
prophecy,  xliv.  7,  8.     This  very  attitude  to  pre- 
phecy  marks  the  book  as  late ;  it  would  not  be 
possible   in   a   pre-exilic   prophet.     But   the   most 
original  conception  of  the  book  is  one  which  finds 
no  parallel  whatever  in  Isaiah,  viz.  the  suffering  ser- 
vant of  Jehovah.     This  servant  is  the  exclusive 
theme  of  the  four  songs,  xlii.  1-4,  xlix.  1-6,  1.  4-9, 
lii.  13-lhi.  -2  ;  but  more  or  less  he  is  involved  in  the 
whole  prophecy.     The  function  of  the  servant  is  to 
give  light  to  the  Gentiles — in  other  words,  to  bring 
the  world  to  a  knowledge  of  Jehovah  (cf.  xlii.  1,  xlv. 
14). 


Isaiah  131 

Who  is  the  servant  ?  The  difficulty  in  answering 
this  question  is  twofold  :  (i.)  while  the  servant  is 
often  undoubtedly  a  collective  term  for  the  people  of 
Israel,  xli.  8,  xliv.  I,  2,  the  descriptions  of  him,  espe- 
cially in  the  songs  alluded  to,  are  occasionally  so  in- 
timately personal  as  to  seem  to  compel  an  individual 
interpretation  (cf.  liii.).  But  in  this  connection  we 
have  to  remember  the  ease  with  which  the  Oriental 
could  personify,  and  apply  even  the  most  personal 
detail  to  a  collective  body.  "  Grey  hairs  are  upon 
him,"  says  Hosea,  vii.  9,  not  of  a  man  but  of  the 
nation  ;  and  Isaiah  himself,  i.  6,  described  the  body 
politic  as  sick  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  sole 
of  the  foot  (cf .  Ezek.  xvi.,  xxiii).  Clearly,  therefore, 
individual  allusions  do  not  necessarily  compel  an 
individual  interpretation  ;  and  there  is  no  reason 
in  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  still  less  in  the  context, 
to  assume  a  reference  to  any  specific  individual. 
The  songs  are  an  integral  part  of  the  prophecy  :  the 
function  of  the  servant  is  the  same,  and  the  servant 
must  also  be  the  same  in  both.  Indeed  one  passage 
in  the  second  song,  xlix.  3,  expressly  identifies  the 
servant  with  Israel ;  and  in  liii.,  an  intensely  per- 
sonal chapter,  where  the  servant,  after  death,  is  to 
rise  again  and  take  his  place  victoriously  in  the 
world,  the  collective  interpretation  of  the  servant  as 
Israel,  emerging  triumphantly  from  the  doom  of 
exile,  is  natural,  if  not  necessary. 

But  (ii.)  admitting  that  the  servant  is  everywhere 
Israel,  a  new  difficulty  emerges.  The  terms  in 
which  he  is  described  are  often  apparently  contra- 
dictory. At  one  time  he  is  blind  and  deaf,  xlii.  18, 
19  ;  at  another  he  is  Jehovah's  witness  and  minister 


132    Old  Testament  Introduction 

to  the  blind  and  deaf,  i.e.  to  the  heathen  world, 
xliii.  8-10,  xlii.  7.  This  contrast,  which  runs  through 
the  prophecy,  is  simply  to  be  explained  as  a  blending 
of  the  real  and  the  ideal.  The  people  contemplated 
are  in  both  cases  the  same  ;  but,  at  one  time,  the 
prophet  contemplates  them  as  they  are,  unreceptive 
and  irresponsive  to  their  high  destiny  ;  at  another, 
he  regards  them  in  the  light  of  that  destiny — called, 
through  their  experience  of  suffering  and  redemp- 
tion, to  bring  the  world  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  the 
true  and  only  God. 

Chapters  xl.-xlix.  fall  somewhere  about  540  B.C. — 
between  the  decisive  victories  of  Cyrus  over  the 
Lydians  in  546  (cf .  xli.  1-5)  and  the  capture  of  Baby- 
lon in  538.  The  prophecy  opens  with  a  word  of 
consolation.  The  exile  of  Judah  is  all  but  over,  her 
redemption  is  very  nigh  ;  for  the  eternal  purpose  of 
Jehovah  must  be  fulfilled,  xl.  1-11.  He  is  a  God 
whose  power  and  wisdom  are  beyond  all  imagining, 
and  He  will  be  the  strength  of  those  who  put  their 
trust  in  Him  (xl.  12-31  J.1  For  He  has  raised  up  a 
great  warrior  from  the  north-east  (cf.  xli.  2,  25),  i.e. 
Cyrus,  through  whom  Israel's  happy  return  to  her 
own  land  is  assured  (xli.  1-20).  Israel's  God  is  the 
true  God  ;  for  He  alone  foretold  this  day,  as  no 
heathen  god  could  ever  have  done,  xli.  21-29.  The 
mission  of  His  servant  Israel  is  to  spread  the  know- 
ledge of  His  name  throughout  the  world,  and  that 
mission  must  be  fulfilled,  xlii.  1-9.  Let  the  world 
rejoice,  then,  at  the  glorious  redemption  Jehovah 
has  wrought  for  His  people,  xlii.  10-17  ;  for  their 

1  Between  xl.  19  and  20  probably  xli.  6,  7  should  be  inserted. 


Isaiah  133 


sorrow,  xlii.  18-25,  an^  their  redemption  alike, 
xliii.  1-7,  spring  from  a  deep  purpose  of  love.  Is- 
rael is  now  fitted  to  be  Jehovah's  witness  before  the 
world,  for  her  impending  deliverance  from  Babylon 
is  more  marvellous  than  her  ancient  deliverance 
from  Egypt,  xliii.  8-21.  Her  grievous  sins  are  freely 
forgiven,'xliii.  22-28,  and  soon  she  shall  enter  upon  a 
new  and  happy  life,  xliv.  1-5,  for  her  God,  the  eter- 
nal and  the  only  God,1  forgives  and  redeems,  xliv. 
6-23. 

The  deliverance  of  Israel  is  to  be  effected  through 
Cyrus,  who  is  honoured  with  the  high  titles,  "  Shep- 
herd and  Messiah  of  Jehovah,"  xlv.  1,  and  assured 
by  him  of  a  triumphant  career,  for  Israel  and  the 
true  religion's  sake,  xliv.  24-xlv.  8.  Those  who  are 
surprised  at  Jehovah's  call  of  the  foreign  Cyrus  are 
sternly  reminded  that  Jehovah  is  sovereign  and  can 
call  whom  He  will,  xlv.  9-13,  and  the  ultimate  ob- 
ject of  His  call  is  that  through  the  redemption  of 
Israel,  which  he  is  commissioned  to  effect,  all  men 
shall  be  saved,  and  the  worship  of  Jehovah  estab- 
lished throughout  the  whole  world,  xlv.  14-25.  In 
xlvi.  the  impotence  of  the  Babylonian  gods  to  save 
themselves  when  the  city  is  taken  by  Cyrus  is  con- 
trasted with  the  incomparable  power  of  Jehovah  as 
shown  in  history,  and  in  His  foreknowledge  of  the 
future,  and  made  the  basis  of  a  warning  to  Israel  to 
cast  away  despondency.  Then  follows  a  song  of 
triumph  over  Babylon,  the  proud  and  luxurious, 
whose  doom  all  her  magic  and  astrology  cannot 
avert  (xlvii.).     Ch.  xlviii.  strikes  in  places  a  different 

1  Ch.  xliv.  9-20,  though  graphic,  is  diffuse,  and  interrupts  the 
context  :    it  is  probably  a  later  addition. 


134   Old  Testament  Introduction 

note  from  that  of  the  previous  chapters.  They  are 
a  message  of  comfort ;  and,  where  the  people  are 
censured,  it  is  for  lack  of  faith  and  responsiveness. 
In  this  chapter,  on  the  other  hand,  the  tone  is  in 
places  stern,  almost  harsh,  and  the  people  are  even 
charged  with  idolatry.  Probably  an  original  pro- 
phecy of  Deutero-Isaiah  has  been  worked  over  by  a 
post-exilic  hand.  This  chapter  is  in  the  nature  of  a 
summary.  It  emphasizes  Jehovah's  fore-knowledge 
as  witnessed  by  the  ancient  prophecies  and  their  ful- 
filment in  the  coming  deeds  of  Cyrus  ;  and  the 
section  fittingly  closes  with  a  ringing  appeal  to  Israel 
to  go  forth  out  of  Babylon.1 

Chapters  xlix-lv.  presuppose  the  same  general 
situation  as  xl.-xlviii.  ;  but  whereas  the  earlier 
chapters  deal  incidentally  with  the  victories  of  Cyrus 
and  the  folly  of  idolatry,  xlix.-lv.  concentrate  atten- 
tion severely  upon  Israel  herself,  which  is  often 
addressed  as  Zion.  The  group  begins  with  the 
second  of  the  "  servant  "  songs,  xlix.  1-6,  its  theme 
being  Israel's  divine  call,  through  suffering  and  re- 
demption, to  bring  the  whole  world  to  the  true 
religion.  In  earnest  and  beautiful  language  Israel 
is  assured  of  restoration  and  a  happy  return  to  her 
own  land,  of  the  rebuilding  of  her  ruins,  and  the  in- 
crease of  her  population  ;  and  no  power  can  undo 
this  marvellous  deliverance,  for  Jehovah,  despite 
His  people's  slender  faith,  is  omnipotent,  xlix.  7-L  3. 
In  1.  4-9  the  servant  tells  of  the  sufferings  which  his 
fidelity  brought  him,  and  his  confidence  in  Jehovah's 

1  Ch.  xlviii.  22  is  probably  borrowed  from  Ivii.  21,  where  it 
is  in  place,  to  divide  xl.-lxvi.  into  three  equal  parts. 


Isaiah  135 

power  to  save  and  vindicate  him.1  The  glorious 
salvation  is  near  and  sure  ;  let  Israel  but  trust  in  her 
omnipotent  God  and  cast  away  all  fear  of  man, 
li.  1-16.  Bitter  has  been  Jerusalem's  sorrow,  but 
now  she  may  break  forth  into  joy,  for  messengers  are 
speeding  with  good  tidings  of  her  redemption,  li.  17- 
lii.  12.  The  fourth  and  last  song  of  the  servant, 
lii.  13-liii.  12,  celebrates  the  strange  and  unparalleled 
sufferings  which  he  bore  for  the  world's  sake— his 
death,  resurrection,  and  the  consequent  triumph  and 
vindication  of  his  cause.  In  fine  contrast  to  the 
sufferings  of  the  servant  acquainted  with  grief  is  the 
joy  that  follows  in  ch.  liv  —  joy  in  the  vision  of  the 
restored,  populous  and  glorious  city,  or  rather  in  the 
everlasting  love  of  God  by  which  that  redemption 
is  inspired.2  Nothing  remains  but  for  the  people  to 
lay  hold,  in  faith,  of  the  salvation  which  is  so  nigh, 
and  which  is  so  high  above  all  human  expectation 
(lv.). 

Chapters  lvi.-lxvi. 

The  problem  of  the  origin  and  date  of  this  section  is 
one  of  the  most  obscure  and  intricate  in  the  Old 
Testament.  The  general  similarity  of  the  tone  to 
that  of  xl.-lv.  is  unmistakable.  There  is  the  same 
assurance  of  redemption,  the  same  brilliant  pictures 
of  restoration.  But,  apart  from  the  fact  that,  on 
the  whole,  the  style  of  lvi.-lxvi.  seems  less  original 
and  powerful,  the  situation  presupposed  is  distinctly 

1  Ch.  1.  10,  11  are  apparently  late. 

2  From  liv.  17  and  on  we  hear  of  the  "servants  of  Jehovah," 
not  as  in  xl.-liii.,  of  the  servant. 


136   Old  Testament  Introduction 

different.  In  xl.-lv.,  Israel,  though  occasionally 
regarded  as  unworthy,  is  treated  as  an  ideal  whole, 
whereas  in  lvi.-lxvi.  there  are  two  opposed  classes 
within  Israel  itself  (cf.  lvii.  3$.,  15ft.).  One  of  these 
classes  is  guilty  of  superstitious  and  idolatrous  rites, 
lvii.  3fL,  lxv.  3,  4,  lxvi.  17,  whereas  in  xl.-lv.  the 
Babylonians  were  the  idolaters,  xlvi.  1.  Again,  the 
kind  of  idolatry  of  which  Israel  is  guilty  is  not  Baby- 
lonian, but  that  indigenous  to  Palestine,  and  it  is 
described  in  terms  which  sometimes  sound  like  an 
echo  of  pre-exilic  prophecy,  lvii.  5,  7  (Hos.  iv.  13) — 
so  much  so  indeed  that  some  have  regarded  these 
passages  as  pre-exilic. 

The  spiritual  leaders  of  the  people  are  false  to 
their  high  trust,  lvi.  10-12.  This  last  passage  im- 
plies a  religious  community  more  or  less  definitely 
organized — a  situation  which  would  suit  post-exilic 
times,  but  hardly  the  exile  ;  and  this  presumption 
is  borne  out  by  many  other  hints.  The  temple 
exists,  lvi.  7,  lx.  7,  13,  but  religion  is  at  a  low  ebb. 
Fast  days  are  kept  in  a  mechanical  spirit,  and  are 
marred  by  disgraceful  conduct  (lviii.).  Judah  suffers 
from  raids,  lxii.  8,  Jerusalem  is  unhappy,  lxv.  19, 
her  walls  are  not  yet  built,  lx.  10.  The  gloomy  situ- 
ation explains  the  passionate  appeal  of  lxiii.  7-lxiv. 
to  God  to  interpose — an  appeal  utterly  unlike  the 
serene  assurance  of  xl.-lv.  :  it  explains,  too,  why 
threat  and  promise  here  alternate  regularly,  while 
there  the  predominant  note  was  one  of  consolation. 
In  its  general  temper  and  background,  though  not 
in  its  style,  the  chapters  forcibly  recall  Malachi. 
There  is  the  same  condemnation  of  the  spiritual 
leaders  (lvi.  10-12  ;  Mai.  i.  ii.),  the  same  emphasis  on 


Isaiah  137 


the  fatherhood  of  God  (lxiii.  16,  lxiv.  8  ;  Mai.  i.  6, 
ii.  io,  iii.  17),  the  same  interest  in  the  institutions  of 
Judaism  (lvi.),  the  same  depressed  and  hopeless 
mood  to  combat.  From  lx.  10  (lxii.  6  ?)  it  may  be 
inferred  that  the  book  falls  before  the  building  of  the 
walls  by  Nehemiah — probably  somewhere  between 
460  and  450  B.C.  This  conclusion,  of  course,  is  very 
far  from  certain  ;  it  is  not  even  certain  that  the 
chapters  constitute  a  unity.  Various  scholars  iso- 
late certain  sections,  assigning,  e.g.,  lxiii.-lxvi.  to  a 
period  much  later  than  lvi -lxii.,  others  regarding 
xlix.-lxii.  as  written  by  the  same  author  asxl.-xlviii., 
but  later  and  other  different  conditions,  others  re- 
ferring lvi.-lxii.  to  a  pupil  of  Deutero-Isaiah,  who 
wrote  not  long  after  520  (cf.  Hag.,  Zech.). 

To  complicate  matters,  the  text  of  certain  passages 
of  crucial  importance  seems  to  be  in  need  of  emenda- 
tion (cf.  lxiii.  18)  ;  and  it  is  practically  certain  that 
there  are  later  interpolations.  One  can  see  how 
intricate  the  problem  becomes,  if  Marti  is  right  in 
denying  so  important  a  passage  as  lxiv.  10-12  to  the 
author  of  the  rest  of  the  chapter,  and  assigning  it  to 
Maccabean  times.  But,  though  there  are  undoubted 
difficulties  in  the  way,  it  seems  not  impossible  to 
regard  lvi.-lxvi.  as,  in  the  main,  a  unity,  and  its 
author  as  a  contemporary  of  Malachi.  In  that  case, 
the  superstitious  and  idolatrous  people,  whose  pre- 
sence is  at  first  sight  so  surprising  in  the  post-exilic 
community,  would  be  the  descendants  of  the  Jews 
who  had  not  been  carried  into  exile,  and  who,  being 
but  superficially  touched,  if  at  all,  by  the  reform- 
ation of  Josiah,  would  perpetuate  ancient  idolatrous 
practices  into  the  post-exilic  period. 


138    Old  Testament  Introduction 

This  prophecy  begins  with  a  word  of  assurance  to 
the  proselytes  and  eunuchs  that,  if  they  faithfully 
observe  the  Sabbath,  they  will  not  be  excluded  from 
participation  in  the  temple  worship,  lvi.  1-8.  But 
the  general  situation  (in  Judah)  is  deplorable.  The 
spiritual  leaders  of  the  community  are  indolent  and 
fond  of  pleasure,  men  of  no  conscience  or  ideal  (cf. 
Mai.  ii.),  with  the  result  that  the  truly  godly  are 
crushed  out,  lvi.  9-lvii.  2,  and  the  old  immoral  idol- 
atry is  rampant,  lvii.  3-13.  The  sinners  will  there- 
fore be  punished,  but  the  godly  whom  they  have 
persecuted  will  be  comforted  and  saved,  lvii.  14-21. 
The  people,  who  have  been  zealously  keeping  fast- 
days,  are  surprised  and  vexed  that  Jehovah  has  not 
yet  honoured  their  fidelity  by  sending  happier  times  : 
the  prophet  replies  that  the  real  demands  of  Jehovah 
are  not  exhausted  by  ceremonial,  but  lie  rather  in 
the  fulfilment  of  moral  duty,  and  especially  in  the 
duty  of  practical  love  to  the  needy  (lviii.).  It  is  not 
the  impotence  of  Jehovah,  but  the  manifold  sins  of 
the  people,  that  have  kept  back  the  day  of  salvation, 
lix.  1-15  ;  but  He  will  one  day  appear  to  punish  His 
adversaries  and  redeem  the  penitent  and  faithful, 
lix.  16-21.  Then  the  city  of  Jerusalem  shall  be 
glorious  :  her  scattered  children  shall  stream  back 
to  her,  her  walls  shall  be  rebuilt  by  the  gifts  of 
the  heathen  nations,  and  she  shall  be  mistress  of 
the  world,  enjoying  peace  and  light  and  prosperity 
(lx.).  Again  the  good  news  is  proclaimed :  the 
Jews  shall  be,  as  it  were,  the  priests  of  Jehovah 
for  the  whole  world,  Jerusalem  shall  be  secure  and 
fair  and  populous  (lxi.,  lxii.).  But  if  Judah  is 
thus  to  prosper,  her  enemies  must  be  destroyed, 


Isaiah  139 

and  their  *  destruction  is  described  in  lxiii.  1-6,  a 
unique  and  powerful  song  of  vengeance. 

A  very  striking  contrast  to  all  this  dream  of  vic- 
tory and  blessedness  is  presented  by  lxiii.  7-lxiv.  12, 
in  which  the  people  sorrowfully  remind  themselves 
of  the  brilliant  far-off  days  of  the  Exodus  when  the 
Spirit  was  with  them — the  Spirit  whom  sin  has  now 
driven  away — and  passionately  pray  that  Jehovah, 
in  His  fatherly  pity,  would  mightily  interpose  to 
save  them.3  The  devotees  of  superstitious  cults  are 
threatened  with  destruction,  lxv.  1-7,  while  brilliant 
promises  are  held  out  to  the  faithful — long  and  happy 
life  in  a  world  transformed,  lxv.  8-25.  Again  de- 
struction is  predicted  for  those  who,  while  practising 
superstitious  rites,  are  yet  eager  to  build  a  temple  to 
Jehovah  to  rival  the  existing  one  in  Jerusalem  ; 
while  the  faithful  are  comforted  with  the  prospect  of 
victory,  increase  of  population  and  resources,  and 
the  perpetuity  of  their  race  (lxvi.). 

1  The  enemy  is  not  Edom  alone.  Instead  of  "  from  Edom 
and  Bozrah  "  in  lxiii.  la  should  be  read,  "jWho  is  this  that  comes 
stained  with  red,  with  garments  redder  than  a  vine-dresser's  ?  " 

2  Professor  G.  A.  Smith  refers  this  prayer  to  the  period  of 
disillusion  after  the  return  and  before  the  new  religious  impulse 
given  by  Haggai  and  Zechariah — about  525  B.C. 


Jeremiah 

The  interest  of  the  book  of  Jeremiah  is  unique.  On 
the  one  hand,  it  is  our  most  reliable  and  elaborate 
source  for  the  lcng  period  of  history  which  it  covers  ; 
on  the  other,  it  presents  us  with  prophecy  in  its  most 
intensely  human  phase,  manifesting  itself  through  a 
strangely  attractive  personality  that  was  subject  to 
like  doubts  and  passions  with  ourselves.  At  his 
call,  in  626  B.C.,  he  was  young  and  inexperienced, 
i.  6,  so  that  he  cannot  have  been  born  earlier  than 
650.  The  political  and  religious  atmosphere  of  his 
ministry  was  alike  depressing.  When  it  began,  the 
Scythians  were  overrunning  Western  Asia,  and 
Judah  was  the  vassal  of  Assyria,  as  she  continued  to 
be  till  the  fall  of  Nineveh  in  606  B.C.  Josiah,  in 
whose  reign  Jeremiah  began  his  ministry,  was  a  good 
king  ;  but  the  idolatries  of  his  grandfather  Manasseh 
had  only  too  surely  left  their  mark,  and  the  reform- 
ation which  was  inaugurated  on  the  basis  of  Deutero- 
nomy (621)  had  produced  little  permanent  result. 
Idolatry  and  immorality  of  all  kinds  continued  to 
be  the  order  of  the  day,  vii.  9  (about  608).  The  inner 
corruption  found  its  counterpart  in  political  dis- 
aster. The  death  of  Josiah  in  609  at  Megiddo,  when 
he  took  the  field,  probably  as  the  vassal  of  Assyria, 
against  the  king  of  Egypt,  was  a  staggering  blow  to 

140 


Jeremiah  1 4.  i 


the  hopes  of  the  reformers,  and  formed  a  powerful 
argument  in  the  hands  of  the  sceptics.  The  vassal- 
age of  Assyria  was  exchanged  for  the  vassalage  of 
Egypt,  and  that,  in  four  years,  for  the  vassalage  of 
Babylonia,  whose  supremacy  over  Western  Asia  was 
assured  by  her  victory  on  the  epoch-making  field  of 
Carchemish  (605). 

There  was  no  strong  ruler  upon  the  throne  of 
Judah  during  the  years  preceding  the  exile.  Jeho- 
ahaz,  the  successor  of  Josiah,  deposed  by  the  Egyp- 
tians and  exiled  after  a  three  months'  reign,  xxii. 
10-12,  was  succeeded  by  the  rapacious  Jehoiakim 
(608-597), who  cared  nothing  for  the  warning  words  of 
Jeremiah  (xxxvi.),  and  his  successor  Jehoiachin,  who 
was  exiled  to  Babylon  after  a  three  months'  reign, 
was  followed  by  the  weak  and  vacillating  Zedekiah, 
who  reigned  from  597  to  586,  when  Jerusalem  was 
taken  and  the  monarchy  perished.  The  priests  and 
prophets  were  no  more  faithful  to  their  high  office 
than  the  kings.  The  prophets  were  superficial  men 
who  did  not  realize  how  deep  and  grievous  was  the 
hurt  of  the  people,  xxiii.  9-40,  and  who  imagined 
that  the  catastrophe,  if  it  came,  would  speedily 
be  reversed,  xxviii.  ;  and  the  priests  reposed  a 
stubborn  confidence  in  the  inviolability  of  the  tem- 
ple (xxvi.)  and  the  punctiliousness  of  their  offerings, 
vii.  21,  22. 

Jeremiah,  though  he  came  of  a  priestly  family, 
knew  very  well  that  there  was  no  salvation  in  ritual. 
He  saw  that  the  root  of  the  evil  was  in  the  heart, 
which  was  "  deceitful  above  all  things  and  desper- 
ately sick,"  xvii.  9,  and  that  no  reformation  was 
possible  till  the  heart  itself  was  changed.     It  was  for 


142    Old  Testament   Introduction 

this  reason  that  he  called  upon  the  people  to  cir- 
cumcise their  heart,  iv.  4,  and  to  search  for  Jehovah 
with  all  their  heart,  xxix.  13. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  was  Jere- 
miah's attitude  to  the  law-book  discovered  and 
published  in  621,  but  unfortunately  the  problems 
that  gather  round  the  authenticity  of  the  text  of 
Jeremiah  are  so  vexatious  that  we  cannot  say  with 
certainty.  On  the  one  hand,  we  know  that,  though 
at  that  time  a  prophet  of  five  years'  standing,  he  was 
not  consulted  on  the  discovery  of  the  book  (2  Kings 
xxii.  14) ;  on  the  other  hand,  xi.  1-14  explicitly 
connects  him  with  an  itinerant  mission  throughout 
the  province  of  Judah  for  the  purpose  of  inculcating 
the  teaching  of  "  the  words  of  this  covenant,"  which 
can  only  be  the  book  of  Deuteronomy.  But  there 
is  fairly  good  reason  for  supposing  that  this  passage, 
which  is  diffuse,  and  very  unlike  the  poems  that 
follow  it,  w.  15,  16,  18-20,  is  one  of  the  many  later 
scribal  additions  to  the  book.  Even  if  Jeremiah  did 
support  the  Deuteronomic  movement,  he  must  have 
felt,  in  the  words  of  Darmesteter,  that  "  it  is  easier 
to  reform  the  cult  than  the  soul,"  and  that  the  real 
solution  would  never  be  found  in  the  statutes  of  a 
law-book,but  only  in  the  law  written  upon  the  heart, 
xxxi.  31-33.  Here  again,  this  great  prophecy  of 
the  law  written  upon  the  heart,  has  been  denied  to 
Jeremiah — by  Duhm,  for  example  :  but  at  any  rate, 
it  is  conceived  in  the  spirit  of  the  prophet. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  some  of  the  noblest  utter- 
ances on  religion  in  the  book  of  Jeremiah  have  been, 
for  reasons  more  or  less  convincing,  denied  to  him  : 
e.g.  the  great  passage  which  looks  out  upon  a  time 


Jeremiah  143 


when  the  dearest  material  symbols  of  the  ancient 
religion  would  no  longer  be  necessary  ;  days  would 
come  when  men  would  never  think  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,  and  never  miss  it,  hi.  16.  But  even  if  it 
could  be  proved  that  these  words  were  not  Jere- 
miah's, it  was  a  sound  instinct  that  placed  them  in 
his  book.  He  certainly  did  not  regard  sacrifice  as 
essential  to  the  true  religion,  or  as  possessing  any 
specially  divine  sanction,  vii.  22,  and  the  thinker  who 
could  utter  such  a  word  as  vii.  22  is  surely  on  the 
verge  of  a  purely  spiritual  conception  of  religion,  if 
indeed  he  does  not  stand  already  within  it.  If  the 
temple  is  not  indispensable,  vii.  4,  neither  could  the 
ark  be. 

This  severely  spiritual  conception  of  religion  is 
but  the  outcome  of  the  intensely  personal  religious 
experience  of  the  prophet.  There  is  no  other  pro- 
phet whose  intercourse  with  the  divine  spirit  is  so 
dramatically  portrayed,  or  into  the  depths  of  whose 
heart  we  can  so  clearly  see.  He  speaks  to  God  with 
a  directness  and  familiarity  that  are  startling, 
"  Why  hast  Thou  become  to  me  as  a  treacherous 
brook,  as  waters  that  are  not  sure  ?  "  xv.  18.  He  has 
little  of  the  serene  majesty  of  Isaiah  whose  eyes  had 
seen  the  king.  His  tender  heart,  ix.  1,  is  vexed  and 
torn  till  he  curses  not  only  his  enemies,  xi.  20ff.,  but 
the  day  on  which  he  was  born,  xx.  14-18.  He  did 
not  choose  his  profession,  he  recoiled  from  it ;  but 
he  was  thrust  into  the  arena  of  public  life  by  an  im- 
pulse which  he  could  not  resist.  The  word,  which 
he  would  fain  have  hidden  in  his  heart,  was  like  a 
burning  fire  shut  up  in  his  bones,  and  it  leaped  into 
speech  of  flame,  xx.  9. 


144   Old  Testament  Introduction 

As  a  poet,  Jeremiah  is  one  of  the  greatest.  He 
knows  the  human  heart  to  its  depths.and  he  possesses 
a  power  of  remarkably  terse  and  vivid  expression. 
Nothing  could  be  more  weird  than  this  picture  of  the. 
utter  desolation  of  war  : — 

I  beheld  the  earth, 

And  lo  !  it  was  waste  and  void. 
I  looked  to  the  sky, 

And  lo  !  its  light  was  gone. 
I  beheld  the  mountains, 

And  lo  !  they  trembled. 
And  all  the  hills 

Swayed  to  and  fro. 
I  beheld  (the  earth) 

And  lo  !  there  was  no  man, 
And  all  the  birds  of  the  heaven 

Had  fled.  iv.  23-25. 

A  world  without  the  birds  would  be  no  world  to  Jere- 
miah. Of  singular  power  and  beauty  is  the  lament 
which  Jeremiah  puts  into  the  mouths  of  the  women : — 

Death  is  come  up  at  our  windows, 

He  has  entered  our  palaces, 
Cutting  off  the  children  from  the  streets 

And  the  youths  from  the  squares. 

Then  the  figure  changes  to  Death  as  a  reaper  : — 

There  fall  the  corpses  of  men 

Upon  the  face  of  the  field, 
Like  sheaves  behind  the  reaper 

Which  none  gathers  up.  ix.  21,  22. 

The  book  appropriately  opens  with  the  call  of 
Jeremiah,  and  represents  him  as  divinely  pre- 
ordained to  his  great  and  cheerless  task  before  his 
birth.  In  two  visions  he  sees  prefigured  the 
coming  doom  (i.)  and  the  prophecies  that  immedi- 
ately follow,  though  but  loosely  connected,  appear 


Jeremiah  145 

to  come  from  an  early  stage  of  his  ministry,  and  to 
be  elicited,  in  part,  by  the  inroads  of  the  Scythians — 
the  enemy  from  the  north. 

False  to  the  love  she  bore  Jehovah  in  the  olden 
time,  Israel  has  turned  for  help  to  Egypt,  to  Assyria, 
and  to  the  impotent  Baals  with  their  licentious  wor- 
ship, ii.  i-iii.  5  ;  but  *  if  in  her  despair  and  misery 
she  yet  turns  with  a  penitent  heart  to  Jehovah,  the 
prophet  assures  her  of  His  readiness  to  receive  her, 
iii.  19-iv.  4.  The  rest  of  ch.  iv.  contains  several 
poems  of  remarkable  power.  The  Scythians  are 
coming  swiftly  from  the  north,  and  Jeremiah's 
patriotic  soul  is  deeply  moved.  He  sees  the  deso- 
lation they  will  work,  and  counsels  the  people  to 
gather  in  the  fortified  cities.  The  scene  changes  in 
v.  and  vi.  to  the  capital,  where  Jeremiah's  tender 
and  unsuspecting  heart  has  been  harrowed  by  the 
lack  of  public  and  private  conscience  ;  and  again 
the  land  is  threatened  with  invasion  from  the  swift 
wild  Scythian  hordes. 

The  following  chapter  (vii.)  introduces  us  to  the 
reign    of    Jehoiakim.2     The    prophet    strenuously 


1  Ch.  iii.  6-18  contains  much  that  is  altogether  worthy  of 
Jeremiah,  especially  the  great  conception  in  v.  16  of  a  religion 
which  can  dispense  with  its  most  cherished  material  symbols. 
It  interrupts  the  connection,  however,  between  vv.  5  and  19,  and 
curiously  regards  Israel  as  the  northern  kingdom,  distinct  from 
Judah,  whereas  in  the  surrounding  context,  ii.  3,  iii.  23,  Israel 
stands  for  Judah.  The  difference  is  suspicious.  Again,  v.  18 
would  appear  to  presuppose  that  Judah  is  in  exile  or  on  the  verge 
of  it,  which  would  make  the  passage  among  the  latest  in  the  book. 
If  it  is  Jeremiah's,  it  must  be  much  later  than  its  context. 

2  The  scene  in  ch.  vii.  is  very  similar  to,  if  not  identical  with 
that  in  ch.  xxvi.,  which  is  expressly  assigned  to  the  beginning  of 
Jehoiakim's  reign  (608). 

TO 


146    Old  Testament    Introduction 

combats  the  confidence  falsely  reposed  in  the  temple 
and  the  ritual :  the  former  is  but  a  den  of  robbers, 
the  latter  had  never  been  commanded  by  Jehovah, 
and  neither  will  save  them.  With  sorrowful  eyes 
Jeremiah  sees  the  coming  disaster,  and  he  sings  of  it 
in  elegies  unspeakably  touching  (viii.-x.  :  cf.  viii. 
18-22,  ix.  21,  22). * 

In  ch.  xi.  Jeremiah  is  divinely  impelled  to  under- 
take an  itinerant  mission  throughout  Judah  in  sup- 
port of  the  Deuteronomic  legislation,  but  he  is 
warned  that,  for  their  disobedience,  the  people  will 
be  overtaken  by  disaster,  which  he  must  not  inter- 
cede to  avert,  xi.  1-17.  A  cruel  conspiracy  formed 
against  him  by  his  own  townsmen  raises  perplexities 
in  his  mind  touching  the  moral  order,  but  he  is  re- 
minded that  still  harder  things  are  in  store,  xi.  18- 
xii.  6.  Then  follows  a  poem,  xii.  7-13,  lamenting 
the  desolation  of  the  land,  though  who  the  aggres- 
sors are  it  is  hard  to  say  ;  but,  in  vv.  14-17,  a  passage 
possibly  much  later,  there  is  an  ultimate  possibility 
of  restoration  both  for  Judah  and  her  ravaged 
neighbours,  if  they  adopt  the  religion  of  Judah.  In 
ch.  xiii.  which  possibly  belongs  to  Jehoiachin's  short 

1  Ch.  ix.  22  is  directly  continued  by  x.  17.  Of  the  three 
passages  intervening,  ix.  23,  24  (the  true  and  false  objects  of  con- 
fidence) and  ix.  25,  26  (punishment  of  those  uncircumcised  in 
heart  or  flesh)  are  both  in  the  spirit  of  Jeremiah,  but  they  cannot 
belong  to  this  context.  Ch.  x.  1-16,  on  the  other  hand,  can 
hardly  be  Jeremiah's.  Its  theme  is  the  impotence  of  idols  and 
the  omnipotence  of  Jehovah — a  favourite  theme  of  Deutero- 
Isaiah  (cf.  Is.  xl.),  and  it  is  elaborated  in  the  spirit  of  Is.  xliv. 
9-20.  The  warning  not  to  fear  the  idols  is  much  more  natural 
if  addressed  to  an  exilic  audience  than  to  Jeremiah's  contem- 
poraries. It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  passage  is  later 
than  Jeremiah. 


Jeremiah  14.7 

reign,  597  B.C.  (cf .  v.  18  with  2  Kings  xxiv.  8),  the 
utter  and  incurable  corruption  of  the  people  is  sym- 
bolically indicated  to  Jeremiah,  who  announces  the 
speedy  fall  of  the  throne  and  the  sorrows  of  exile. 

The  elements  that  make  up  chs.  xiv.-xvii.  are  very 
loosely  connected.  Generally  speaking,  the  situ- 
ation of  the  people  is  desperate.  The  doom — already 
inaugurated  in  the  form  of  a  drought — is  hastening 
on  ;  no  excuse  will  be  accepted  and  no  intercession 
can  avail.  In  a  bold  and  striking  poem,  xv.  10-21, 
Jeremiah  complains  of  his  bitter  and  lonely  fate,  and 
is  reassured  of  the  divine  support.  In  view  of  the 
impending  misery  he  is  forbidden  to  marry,  and 
more  and  more  he  is  thrown  back  upon  Jehovah  as 
his  absolute  and  only  hope.1 

Chs.  xviii.-xx.  A  chance  sight  of  a  potter  re- 
fashioning a  spoiled  vessel  suggests  to  Jeremiah  the 
conditional  nature  of  prophecy.  But  as  Judah 
remains  obstinate,  the  threat  must  be  irretrievably 
fulfilled.  The  proclamation  of  this  truth  in  the 
temple  court  led  to  his  imprisonment.  On  his  re- 
lease he  distinctly  and  deliberately  announces  the 
exile  to  Babylon,  and  then  breaks  out  into  a  passion- 
ate cry,  which  rings  with  an  almost  unparalleled  sin- 
cerity, over  the  misery  of  his  life,  especially  of  that 
prophetic  life  to  which  he  had  been  mysteriously 
but  irresistibly  impelled. 

1  Ch.  xvii.  19-27  is  almost  certainly  post-exilic,  and  probably 
belongs  to  Nehemiah's  time  (about  450).  Jeremiah  nowhere 
else  emphasizes  the  Sabbath,  and  it  would  be  very  unlike  him  to 
represent  the  future  prosperity  of  Judah  as  conditional  upon  the 
people's  observance  of  a  single  law,  especially  one  not  distinctively 
ethical.  Such  emphasis  on  the  Sabbath  suggests  the  post-exilic 
church  (cf.  Neh.  xiii.  ;    Is.  lviii.). 


148    Old  Testament  Introduction 

Ch.  xxi.  1-10,  one  of  the  latest  pieces  in  the  book, 
contains  Jeremiah's  answer  to  the  question  of  Zede- 
kiah  relative  to  the  issue  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
which  had  already  begun  (588).  Then  follow  two 
sections,  one  dealing  with  kings,  xxi.  11-xxiii.  8,  the 
other  with  prophets,  xxiii.  9-40.  The  former,  after 
an  introduction  which  emphasizes  the  specific  func- 
tions of  the  king,  deals  successively  with  Jehoahaz 
(=Shallum),  Jehoiakim  and  Jehoiachin,  Jehoia- 
kim's  oppressive  methods  being  pointedly  contrasted 
with  the  beneficent  regime  of  his  father  Josiah  ;  and 
against  the  present  incompetence  of  the  rulers  and 
misery  of  the  monarchy  is  thrown  up  a  picture  of  the 
true  king  and  the  Messianic  days,  xxiii.  5-8.  The 
latter  section,  xxiii.  9-40,  denounces  the  prophets 
for  their  immorality,  their  easy  optimism  and  their 
lack  of  independence. 

In  ch.  xxiv.,  which  falls  in  Zedekiah's  reign,  after 
the  first  deportation  (about  596  B.C.),  it  is  symboli- 
cally suggested  to  Jeremiah  that  the  exiles  are  much 
better  than  those  who  were  allowed  to  remain  in  the 
land,  and  their  ultimate  fate  would  be  infinitely 
happier.  The  battle  of  Carchemish  in  605  showed 
that  Babylonian  supremacy  was  ultimately  inevi- 
table ;  to  this  year  belongs  ch.  xxv.,  in  which  Jere- 
miah definitely  announces  the  duration  of  the  exile 
as  seventy  years.  Many  lands  beside  Judah  would 
be  included  in  the  doom,  and  finally  Babylon  itself 
would  be  punished. 

Chs.  i.-xxv.  represent  in  the  main  the  words  of 
Jeremiah  ;  we  now  come  to  a  group  of  narratives  by 
Baruch,  xxvi.-xxix.  Ch.  xxvi.  relates  how  a  cour- 
ageous sermon  of  Jeremiah's  (608  B.C.)  provoked  the 


Jeremiah  149 

hostility  of  the  professional  clergy,  and  nearly  cost 
him  his  life.  Chs.  xxvii.-xxix.  show  how  the  calm  wis- 
dom of  Jeremiah  met  the  ambitions  and  hopes  cher- 
ished by  his  countrymen  at  home  and  in  exile  during 
the  reign  of  Zedekiah.1  In  view  of  a  coalition  that 
was  forming  against  Babylon  in  Western  Asia,  he 
announces  that  the  supremacy  of  Nebuchadrezzar 
is  divinely  ordained,  and  any  such  coalition  is 
doomed  to  failure  (xxvii.).  That  supremacy  will 
last  for  many  a  day  ;  and  a  strange  fate  overtakes 
the  shallow  prophet  who  supposes  that  it  will  be 
over  in  two  years  (xxviii.).  The  exiles  are  therefore 
advised  by  Jeremiah  in  a  letter  to  settle  down  con- 
tentedly in  their  adopted  land,  though  the  letter 
naturally  rouses  the  resentment  and  opposition  of 
the  superficial  prophets  among  the  exiles  (xxix.). 

The  next  four  chapters,  xxx.-xxxiii.,  are  full  of 
promise  :  they  look  out  upon  the  restoration,  in 
which,  despite  the  seeming  hopelessness  of  the  pros- 
pect, Jeremiah  never  ceased  to  believe.  It  is  a 
voice  from  the  dark  days  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
587  (xxxii.  iff.) ;  but  the  present  sorrow  is  to  be 
followed  by  a  period  of  joy,  when  the  city  will  be 
rebuilt,  and  the  mighty  love  of  Jehovah  will  express 
itself  in  the  restoration  not  only  of  Judah  but  of 
Israel,  a  love  to  which  there  will  be  a  glad  spontane- 
ous response  from  men  who  have  the  divine  law 
written  in  their  hearts.  This  prophecy  of  the  new 
covenant  is  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  daring  con- 
ceptions in  the  Old  Testament,  very  naturally  ap- 
propriated by  our  Lord  and  the  author  of  the  Epistle 

1  In  ch.   xxvii.    i,   for   "  Jehoiakim  "   read  "  Zedekiah,"   cf. 
xv.  3,   12. 


150   Old  Testament  Introduction 

to  the  Hebrews  (xxx.,  xxxi.).  So  confident  was  Jere- 
miah in  the  divine  assurance  that  Palestine  would 
one  day  be  freed  from  the  Babylonian  yoke  that, 
even  during  the  siege  of  the  city,  he  purchased  fields 
belonging  to  a  kinsman,  and  took  measures  to  pre- 
serve the  title  deeds  (xxxii.).  Ch.  xxxiii.  still  fur- 
ther confirms  the  assurance  of  restoration. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Jeremiah  both 
believed  in  and  announced  the  restoration  :  the 
very  straightforward  story  in  ch.  xxxii.,  which,  by 
the  way,  throws  considerable  light  on  the  psychology 
of  prophecy,  is  proof  enough  of  that.  But  there  can 
be  equally  little  doubt  that  the  section  xxx. -xxxiii. 
did  not  come,  as  it  stands,  from  the  hand  of  Jere- 
miah. Many  verses  have  no  doubt  been  needlessly 
suspected  :  the  attitude  to  northern  Israel  in  ch. 
xxxi.,  especially  w.  4,  5,  practically  forbids  a  refer- 
ence of  these  verses  to  post-exilic  times.  But  xxxi. 
7-14 — the  glad  return — is  exactly  in  the  spirit  of 
Deutero-Isaiah,  and  appears  to  be  dependent  upon 
him.  Whatever  doubt,  however,  may  be  attached 
to  these  sections,  it  is  practically  certain  that  the 
concluding  section,  xxxiii.  14-26,  which  has  a 
special  word  of  promise,  not  only  for  the  house  of 
David,  but  for  the  Levitical  priests,  is  not  Jeremiah's. 
The  verses  are  wanting  in  the  Septuagint,  and  so 
were  not  in  the  Hebrew  copy  from  which  that  trans- 
lation was  made  ;  but  more  fatal  still  to  their 
authenticity  is  their  attitude  to  the  priests  and 
offerings.  The  religion  advocated  by  Jeremiah  was 
a  purely  spiritual  one,  which  could  dispense  with 
temple  and  sacrifice  (ch.  vii.).  "  To  the  false  pro- 
phets," as  Robertson  Smith  has  said,   "  and  the 


Jeremiah  151 


people  who  followed  them,  the  ark,  the  temple,  the 
holy  vessels,  were  all  in  all.  To  Jeremiah  they  were 
less  than  nothing,  and  their  restoration  was  no  part 
of  his  hope  of  salvation."  It  is  very  significant  in 
this  connection  that  the  Septuagint  omits  the  re- 
storation of  the  holy  vessels  in  xxvii.  22. 

From  the  ideal  pictures  of  the  last  group,  ch. 
xxxiv.  flings  us  back  into  the  stern  reality.  The 
city  and  the  king  alike  are  doomed,  and  their  fate  is 
thoroughly  justified  by  the  treachery  displayed 
towards  the  Hebrew  slaves,  who  were  compelled 
by  their  masters  to  return  to  the  bondage  from 
which,  in  the  stress  of  siege,  they  had  emancipated 
them. 

The  next  chapter,  xxxv.,  carries  us  back  to  the 
reign  of  Jehoiakim,  and,  in  an  interesting  and  im- 
portant passage,  contrasts  the  faithfulness  of 
the  Rechabites  to  the  commands  of  their  ancestor 
Jonathan  with  the  popular  disregard  of  Jehovah. 

The  long  section  which  follows  (xxxvi.-xlv.)  is 
almost  purely  historical.  It  comes  in  the  main 
from  Baruch,  but  it  has  been  expanded  here  and 
there  by  subsequent  writers  ;  e.g.  xxxix.  4-13  is 
not  found  in  the  Septuagint ;  the  importance  of 
Jeremiah  is  heightened  in  this  passage  by  his  being 
the  object  of  the  special  care  of  Nebuchadrezzar, 
vv.  1  iff.,  whereas  in  all  probability  his  fate  was 
decided,  not  by  the  king,  but  by  his  officers  (cf. 
3,  13,  14).  But  after  making  every  deduction, 
these  chapters  remain  as  a  historical  source  of  the 
first  rank.  The  section  begins  by  revealing  the 
reckless  impiety  of  Jehoiakim  in  burning  the  pro- 
phecies of  Jeremiah  in  605   B.C.,   but  the  other 


152    Old  Testament  Introduction 

chapters  gather  round  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
eighteen  years  later,  and  the  events  that  followed 
it.  They  describe  the  cruel  and  successive  im- 
prisonments of  the  prophet  for  his  fearless  and 
seemingly  unpatriotic  proclamation  of  the  Baby- 
lonian triumph,  the  pitiful  vacillation  of  the  king, 
the  final  capture  of  the  city,  the  appointment  of 
Gedaliah  as  governor  of  Judah,  his  assassination 
and  the  attempt  to  avenge  it,  the  consequent 
departure  of  many  Jews  to  Egypt  against  the 
advice  of  Jeremiah,  who  was  forced  to  accompany 
them,  the  prophet's  denunciation  of  the  idolatry 
practised  in  Egypt  and  announcement  of  the 
conquest  of  that  land  by  Nebuchadrezzar.  The 
section  closes  (xlv.)  with  a  word  of  meagre  consola- 
tion to  Baruch,  whose  courage  was  giving  way 
beneath  the  strain  of  the  times. 

The  interest  attaching  to  the  oracles  against  the 
foreign  nations  (xlvi.-li.)  is  not  very  great,  as,  for 
good  reasons,  the  authenticity  of  much — some  say 
all — of  the  section  may  be  disputed,  and  with  the 
exception  of  the  oracle  against  Egypt,  they  are 
lacking,  as  a  whole,  not  only  in  distinctness  of 
situation,  but  also  in  that  emotion  and  originality  so 
characteristic  of  Jeremiah. 

The  whole  group  (except  the  oracle  against 
Elam,  xlix.  34-39,  which  is  expressly  assigned  to 
Zedekiah's  reign)  is  suggested  by  reflection  on  the 
decisive  influence  which  the  battle  of  Carchemish 
was  bound  to  have  on  the  fortunes  of  Western  Asia, 
xlvi.  2.  Nebuchadrezzar  is  alluded  to,  either 
expressly,  xlix.  30,  or  figuratively,  xlviii.  40,  as  the 
instrument    of     the    divine     vengeance.      In     the 


Jeremiah  153 

Septuagint,  this  group  of  oracles  appears  between 
xxv.  13  and  xxv.  15,  a  chapter  likewise  assigned  to 
the  year  of  the  battle  of  Carchemish,  xxv.  1.  Ch. 
xlvi.  contains  two  oracles  against  Egypt,  the  first 
of  which,  at  least  vv.  1-12,  is  graphic  and  powerful, 
and  the  second,  vv.  13-26,  announces  the  conquest 
of  Egypt  by  Nebuchadrezzar,  which  took  place  in 
568  B.C.  The  vengeance  upon  Egypt,  v.  10,  in 
which  the  writer  evidently  exults,  may  be  ven- 
geance for  the  defeat  of  Josiah  at  Megiddo.1  A 
certain  vigour  also  characterizes  the  oracle  against 
the  Philistines  (xlvii.),  and  the  conception  of  the 
enemy  "  out  of  the  north,"  v.  2,  is  a  familiar  one 
in  Jeremiah. 

Even  if,  however,  these  oracles  could  be  rescued 
for  Jeremiah,  those  that  follow  are,  in  all  proba- 
bility, nothing  but  later  literary  compilations  rest- 
ing upon  a  close  study  of  the  earlier  prophetical 
literature.  The  oracle  against  Moab  (xlviii.)  besides 
being  unpardonably  diffuse,  is  essentially  an  imita- 
tion of  the  old  oracle  preserved  in  Isaiah  xv.,xvi. 
The  oracle  against  Ammon,  xlix.  1-6,  is  followed 
by  another  against  Edom,  vv.  7-22,  which  again 
borrows  very  largely  from  Obadiah.  Doom  is 
further  pronounced  on  Damascus,  vv.  23-27,  Kedar 
and  Hazor,  vv.  28-33,  and,  about  seven  years 
later,  on  Elam,  vv.  34-39.  It  is  not,  indeed,  im- 
possible that  Jeremiah  should  have  uttered  a  pro- 
phetic word  concerning  at  least  some  of  these  nations 
— witness  his  reply  to  the  ambassadors  of  the 
neighbouring  kings  in  ch.  xxvii. — though  the  re- 

1  Ch.  xlvi.  27,  28,  hardly  in  place  here,  were  borrowed  from 
xxx.  1  of.  and  doubtless  added  later. 


154   Old  Testament  Introduction 

levance  of  Elam  in  such  a  connection  is  hard  to  see  ; 
but  it  is  very  improbable  that  a  writer  and  thinker 
so  independent  as  Jeremiah  should  have  borrowed 
in  the  wholesale  fashion  which  characterizes  the 
bulk  of  this  group  of  oracles.  The  oracle  against 
Egypt  might  be  his,  not  impossibly  the  oracle 
against  the  Philistines  also  ;  but  the  group  as  a 
whole,  consisting  of  seven  oracles — omitting  the 
oracle  against  Elam,  which,  by  its  date,  falls  out- 
side— appears  to  be  a  later  artificial  composition, 
utilizing  the  more  familiar  names  in  xxv.  19-26,  and 
expanding  the  hint  in  vv.  15-17  that  the  nations 
would  be  compelled  to  drink  of  the  cup  of  the  fury 
of  Jehovah. 

The  climax  of  the  foreign  oracles  is  that  against 
Babylon  (l.-li.  58).  This  prophecy  is  written  with 
great  vigour  and  intensity  and  characterized  by  a 
tone  of  triumphant  scorn.  A  nation  from  the  north, 
1.  3,  explicitly  designated  as  the  Medes,  li.  11,  is  to 
assail  Babylon  and  reduce  her  to  a  desolation. 
Jehovah's  people  are  urged  to  leave  the  doomed 
city  ;  with  sins  forgiven  they  will  be  led  back  by 
Jehovah  to  their  own  land,  and  the  poet  contem- 
plates with  glowing  satisfaction  the  day  when 
Babylon  the  destroyer  will  be  herself  destroyed. 

This  oracle  purports  to  be  a  message  which 
Jeremiah  sent  with  an  officer  Seraiah,  who  accom- 
panied King  Zedekiah  to  Babylon  (li.  59).  There 
is  no  probability,  however,  that  the  oracle  was 
written  by  Jeremiah.  Doubtless  the  prophet  fore- 
told the  destruction  of  Babylon,  xxv.  10,  but  his 
attitude  to  that  great  power  in  this  oracle  is  alto- 
gether different  from  what  we  know  it  to  have  been, 


Jeremiah  155 


judging  by  other  authentic  oracles  of  this  period 
(xxvii.-xxix.).  There  he  counsels  patience — it  is 
the  false  prophets  who  hope  for  a  speedy  deliver- 
ance— here  there  is  an  eager  expectancy  which 
amounts  to  impatience.  But  the  contents  of  the 
oracle  show  that  it  cannot  belong  to  the  year  to 
which  it  is  assigned.  The  temple  is  already  de- 
stroyed, 1.  28,  li.  11,  so  that  the  exile  is  presupposed, 
and  indeed  the  Medes  are  definitely  named  as  the 
executors  of  vengeance  upon  Babylon.  All  this 
carries  us  down  to  the  conquests  of  Cyrus  and  the 
close  of  the  exile,  indeed  to  the  time  of  Isaiah 
xl.-lv.  The  oracle  bears  a  striking  resemblance 
both  in  spirit  and  expression  to  Isaiah  xiii.,  and 
might  well  come  from  the  same  time  (about  540). 
It  may,  however,  be  later.  Not  only  is  it  diffuse 
in  expression  and  slipshod  in  arrangement,  but  it 
borrows  extensively  from  other  exilic  or  post-exilic 
parts  of  the  book  of  Jeremiah  (cf.  li.  15-19  with  x. 
12-16,  1.  44-46  with  xlix.  19-21),  late  exilic  parts  of 
Isaiah  (cf.  Jer.  1.  3gff.  with  Isa.  xiii.  19-22),  and 
from  Ezekiel  (cf.  Jer.  li.  25  with  Ezek.  xxxv.  3). 
Besides,  the  author  appears  to  have  no  clear  con- 
ception of  the  actual  situation,  as  he  seems  to  re- 
gard Israel  and  Judah  as  living  side  by  side  in 
Babylon,  1.  4,  33.  In  all  probability  the  oracle 
against  Babylon  is  a  post-exilic  production  inspired 
by  the  yearning  to  see  the  ancient  oppressors  not 
only  humbled,  but  destroyed. 

The  oracle  just  discussed  is  supposed  to  be  an  ex- 
pansion of  the  message  given  by  Jeremiah,  in 
writing,  to  Seraiah,  li.  60a,  when  he  went  with  the 
king  to  Babylon.     But  though  this  narrative,  li. 


156    Old  Testament  Introduction 

59-64,  possibly  rests  on  a  basis  of  fact,  it  cannot 
have  come,  in  its  present  form,  from  Jeremiah,  for 
it  presupposes  the  preceding  oracle  against  Babylon, 
which  has  just  been  shown  not  to  be  authentic. 

With  the  composition  of  ch.  Hi.,  which  narrates  the 
capture  of  Jerusalem  and  the  exile  of  the  people, 
Jeremiah  had  nothing  whatever  to  do.  The  chapter, 
except  vv.  28-30,  which  is  additional,  is  simply  taken 
bodily  from  2  Kings  xxiv.  18-xxv.  30,  with  the 
omission  of  the  account  of  the  appointment  and 
assassination  of  Gedaliah  (2  Kings  xxv.  22-26)  as 
that  story  had  already  been  fully  told  in  Jeremiah 
xl.-xliii. 

The  Greek  version  of  Jeremiah  is  of  more  than 
usual  interest  and  importance.  It  is  about  2,700 
words,  or  one-eighth  of  the  whole,  shorter  than  the 
Hebrew  text,  though  it  has  about  100  words  or  so 
not  found  in  the  Hebrew.  The  order,  too,  is 
occasionally  different,  notably  in  the  oracles  against 
the  foreign  nations  (xlvi.-li.),  which  in  the  Septua- 
gint  are  placed  between  xxv.  13  and  xxv.  15  (verse 
14  being  omitted).  After  making  every  deduction 
for  the  usual  number  of  mistakes  due  to  incom- 
petence and  badly  written  manuscripts,  it  has  to  be 
admitted  that,  in  certain  respects,  the  Greek  text 
is  superior  to  the  Hebrew.  This  is  especially  plain 
if  we  examine  its  omissions.  Considering  the  later 
tendency  to  expand,  its  relative  brevity  is  a  point 
in  its  favour  ;  but,  when  we  examine  particular 
cases,  the  superiority  of  the  Septuagint,  with  its 
omissions,  is  evident  at  once. 

Ch.    xxvii.,    e.g.,  is   considerably   longer   in    the 


Jeremiah  157 

Hebrew  than  in  the  Greek  text  ;  but  the  additions 
in  the  Hebrew  text  represent  Jeremiah  as  inter- 
ested in  the  temple  vessels  and  prophesying  their 
restoration  to  the  temple  when  the  exile  was  over, 
in  a  way  that  is  utterly  unlike  what  we  know  of 
Jeremiah's  general  attitude  to  the  material  symbols 
of  religion.  Similarly,  xxxiii.  14-26,  which  pro- 
mises, among  other  things,  that  there  would  never 
be  lacking  a  Levitical  priest  to  offer  burnt  offerings, 
is  wanting  in  the  Septuagint ;  here  again  the  Greek 
must  be  regarded  as  more  truly  representing  Jere- 
miah's attitude  to  sacrifice  (vii.  22).  It  would,  of 
course,  be  unfair  to  infer  from  this  that  the  briefer 
readings  of  the  Septuagint  were  invariably  superior 
to  the  longer  readings  of  the  Massoretic  text,  for 
it  can  be  shown  that  the  Greek  translators  often 
omitted  or  passed  lightly  over  what  they  did 
not  understand  ;  nevertheless,  their  omissions  often 
indicate  a  better  and  more  original  text. 

With  regard  to  the  oracles  against  the  foreign 
nations,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  their  position 
in  the  Hebrew  text  is  to  be  preferred  to  that  of  the 
Greek.  A  certain  plausibility  attaches  to  the  Greek 
text  which  places  them  after  xxv.  13,  the  last 
clause  of  which — "  that  which  Jeremiah  prophesied 
against  all  the  nations  " — is  taken  as  a  title  ;  but, 
besides  completely  breaking  up  the  surrounding 
context,  whose  theme  is  altogether  Judah,  the 
Greek  position  of  the  oracles  is  exceedingly  clumsy, 
preceding  as  it  does  the  enumeration  in  xxv.  15-29, 
which  it  might  indeed  follow,  but  could  not  reason- 
ably precede.  Further  the  Hebrew  arrangement 
of  the  oracles  within  this  group  is  much  more  pro- 


158    Old  Testament  Introduction 

bable  than  the  Greek.  The  former  appropriately 
reserves  the  oracle  against  Babylon  to  the  end,  the 
latter  places  it  third,  i.e.  among  the  nations  which 
are  to  be  punished  by  Babylon  herself,  xxv.  9. 

We  possess  some  direct  information  about  the 
composition  of  the  book  of  Jeremiah,  but  the  present 
arrangement  is  marked  by  considerable  confusion, 
and  can  in  no  case  be  original.  A  glance  at  the 
contents  of  consecutive  chapters  is  enough  to  show 
that  the  order  is  not  rigorously  chronological. 
Ch.  xxv.,  e.g.,  falls  in  605  B.C.,  whereas  the  preceding 
chapter  is  at  least  eight  years  later  (cf.  xxiv.  1,  8). 
Ch.  xxi.  1-10,  which  reflects  the  period  of  the  siege 
of  Jerusalem,  is  one  of  the  latest  passages  in  the 
book  (587  B.C.).  There  are  occasional  traces  of  a 
topical  order:  e.g.  chs.  xviii.,  xix.,  give  lessons  from 
the  potter,  xxi.  9-xxiii.  8  is  a  series  of  prophecies 
concerning  kings,  xxiii.  9-40  another  concerning 
prophets.  Chs.  xxx.-xxxiii.  gather  up  the  pro- 
phecies concerning  the  restoration.  Chs.  xxxvii- 
xliv.  constitute  a  narrative  dealing  with  the  siege 
of  the  city  and  events  immediately  subsequent 
to  it.  Here  we  touch  one  of  the  striking  peculiari- 
ties of  the  book  of  Jeremiah  that  much  of  it  is 
purely  narrative.  Again,  in  the  narrative  portion, 
sometimes  the  prophet  speaks  himself  in  the 
first  person,  as  in  the  account  of  his  call  (i.),  some- 
times he  is  spoken  of  in  the  third,  xxviii.  5. 

This  suggests  that  some  passages  are  more  directly 
traceable  to  Jeremiah  than  others,  and  the  clue  to 
this  fact  is  to  be  found  in  the  interesting  story  told 
in  ch.  xxx vi.     There  we  are  informed  that  Jeremiah 


Jeremiah  159 

dictated  to  his  disciple  Baruch  the  scribe  the  mes- 
sages of  his  ministry  since  his  call  twenty-one  years 
before.  After  being  read  before  the  public  gather- 
ing at  the  temple,  and  then  before  the  court,  they 
were  destroyed  by  the  king,  Jehoiakim  ;  but  the 
messages  were  rewritten  by  Baruch,  and  many 
similar  words,  we  are  told,  were  added,  xxxvi.  32. 
It  is  clear  that  the  book  written  by  Baruch  to 
Jeremiah's  dictation  cannot  have  been  very  long, 
as  it  could  be  read  three  times  in  one  day,  but  it  is 
impossible  to  say  what  precisely  were  its  consti- 
tuent elements.  Roughly  speaking,  they  must 
be  confined  to  chs.  i.-xxv.,  as  the  following  chapters 
(except  xlvi.-li.)  are  either  narrative,  like  xxvi.- 
xxix.,  xxxvii.-xliv.,  or,  if  prophetic  words  of  Jere- 
miah, come  from  a  later  date  (cf.  xxx.-xxxiii., 
xxxii.  1).  But  the  book  cannot  have  included  all  of 
i.-xxv.,  for,  as  we  have  seen,  parts  of  this  section 
are  later  than  605,  when  the  book  was  first  dictated 
(cf.  xxiv.,  xxi.  1-10),  and  some  are  very  late  (cf. 
x.  1-16,  exilic  at  the  earliest,  and  xvii.  19-27,  post- 
exilic).  The  difficulty  of  determining  the  constitu- 
ents is  increased  by  the  fact  that  several  of  the 
chapters  are  undated  (e.g.  xiv.  i-xvii.  18).  No 
doubt  most  of  chs.  i.-xii.  and  much  of  xiii.-xxv. 
were  included  within  the  original  book  dictated. 

It  is  further  important  to  note  that  the  book 
was  dictated  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  was  not  written  by 
Jeremiah's  own  hand,  and  it  was  dictated  from 
memory,  though  very  possibly  on  the  basis  of  notes. 
Obviously  we  cannot  in  any  case  have  in  these  few 
chapters  more  than  a  summary  of  the  words  spoken 
during  a  ministry  which  at  that  time  had  already 


[6o    Old  Testament  Introduction 

covered  twenty-one  years.  The  strong  personal 
feeling  which  animates  so  much  of  Jeremiah's  early 
prophecies,  especially  the  poetry,  we  owe  directly 
to  his  own  dictation.  The  narrative  sections,  in 
which  he  is  spoken  of  in  the  third  person,  but  most 
of  which  obviously  came  from  some  one  who  was 
thoroughly  conversant  with  the  prophet's  life,  we 
owe,  no  doubt,  to  the  faithful  Baruch,  who  clearly 
held  the  prophet's  words  not  only  in  respect,  but  in 
reverence,  xxxvi.  24.  The  biography,  which,  in  its 
earlier  chapters,  assumes  a  somewhat  annalistic 
form,  xxvi.  1,  xxviii.  1,  xxix.  1,  develops  an  easy 
and  flowing  style  when  it  comes  to  deal  with  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem  (xxxvii.-xliv.).  Speaking  very 
generally,  the  biography  covers  chs.  xxvi.-xlv. 
(except  xxx.,  xxxi.,  xxxiii.). 

But  long  after  Baruch  was  in  his  grave,  the  book 
of  Jeremiah  continued  to  receive  additions.  Some 
of  these,  from  exilic  and  post-exilic  times,  we  have 
already  seen  (cf.  1.,  li.).  A  relatively  large  litera- 
ture grew  up  around  the  book  of  Jeremiah  :  2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  21  even  quotes  as  Jeremiah's  a  prophecy 
which  does  not  occur  in  our  canonical  book  at  all. 
(cf.  Lev.  xxvi.  34f .).  Often  those  who  added  to  the 
book  had  no  clear  imagination  of  the  historical 
situation  whatever  ;  one  of  them  represents  Jere- 
miah as  addressing  the  kings  of  Judah — as  if  they 
had  all  lived  at  the  same  time — on  the  question  of 
the  Sabbath  day  (xvii.  20,  cf.  xix.  3).  The  extent 
of  these  additions  has  already  been  illustrated  by 
comparison  with  the  Septuagint,  and  very  often  the 
passages  which  are  not  supported  by  the  Greek  text 
are  historically  the  least   trustworthy,   cf.   xxxix. 


Jeremiah  1 6 1 


ii,  12.  These  different  recensions  of  the  original 
text  attest  the  wide  popularity  of  the  book  ;  an 
Aramaic  gloss  in  x.  n  shows  the  liberties  which 
transcribers  took  with  the  text,  the  integrity  of 
which  suffered  much  from  its  very  popularity.  The 
interest  of  the  later  scribes  was  rather  in  homiletics 
than  in  history,  and  very  probably  most  of  the 
writing  that  seems  tedious  and  diffuse  in  the  book 
of  Jeremiah  is  to  be  set  down  to  the  count  of  these 
teaching  scribes.  Jeremiah  was  a  very  gifted  poet, 
with  unusual  powers  of  emotional  expression,  and 
it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  his  own  message 
has  been  so  inextricably  involved  in  the  inferior  work 
of  a  later  age. 


Ezekiel 

To  a  modern  taste,  Ezekiel  does  not  appeal  anything 
like  so  powerfully  as  Isaiah  or  Jeremiah.  He  has 
neither  the  majesty  of  the  one  nor  the  tenderness 
and  passion  of  the  other.  There  is  much  in  him 
that  is  fantastic,  and  much  that  is  ritualistic.  His 
imaginations  border  sometimes  on  the  grotesque 
and  sometimes  on  the  mechanical.  Yet  he  is  a 
historical  figure  of  the  first  importance  ;  it  was  very 
largely  from  him  that  Judaism  received  the  ecclesi- 
astical impulse  by  which  for  centuries  it  was  power- 
fully dominated. 

Corrupt  as  the  text  is  in  many  places,  we  have 
in  Ezekiel  the  rare  satisfaction  of  studying  a  care- 
fully elaborated  prophecy  whose  authenticity  is 
practically  undisputed  and  indisputable.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  there  are,  as  Kraetzschmar  main- 
tains, occasional  doublets,  e.g.  ii.  3-7  and  hi.  4-9  ; 
but  these  in  any  case  are  very  few  and  hardly  affect 
the  question  of  authenticity.  The  order  and  pre- 
cision of  the  priestly  mind  are  reflected  in  the  un- 
usually systematic  arrangement  of  the  book.  Its 
general  theme  might  be  broadly  described  as  the 
destruction  and  the  reconstitution  of  the  state,  the 
destruction  occupying  exactly  the  first  half  of  the 
book  (i.-xxiv.)  and  the  reconstitution  the  second 
half  (xxv.-xlviii.). 

162 


Ezekiel  163 

The  following  is  a  sketch  of  the  book.  After 
five  years  of  residence  in  the  land  of  exile,  Ezekiel, 
through  an  ecstatic  vision  in  which  he  beholds  a 
mysterious  chariot  with  God  enthroned  above  it, 
receives  his  prophetic  call  to  the  "  rebellious " 
exiles  (i.,  h\),  and  is  equipped  for  his  task  with  the 
divine  inspiration  ;  that  task  is  partly  to  reprove, 
partly  to  warn  (in.).  At  once  the  prophet  ad- 
dresses himself  thereto,  announcing  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  captivity  of  Judah — Israel  has 
already  been  languishing  in  exile  for  a  century  and 
a  half  (iv.).1  The  threefold  fate  of  the  inhabitants 
is  described  (v.),  and  a  stern  and  speedy  fate  is  fore- 
told for  the  mountain  land  of  Israel  (vi.)  and  for 
the  people  (vii.).  How  deserved  that  fate  is  be- 
comes too  pathetically  plain  in  the  descriptions  of 
the  idolatrous  worship  with  which  the  temple  is 
desecrated  (viii.)  and  in  chastisement  for  which 
the  inhabitants  are  slain  (ix.)  and  their  city  burned 
(x.).  Jehovah  solemnly  departs  from  His  desecrated 
temple  (xi.). 

This  general  theme  of  the  sin  and  fate  of  the  city 
is  continued  with  variations  throughout  the  rest 
of  the  first  half  of  the  book.  The  horrors  of  the 
siege  and  exile  are  symbolically  indicated,  xii.  1-20, 
and  the  false  prophets  and  prophetesses,  xiii.  17, 
are  reproved  and  denounced  for  encouraging,  by 
their  shallow  optimism,  the  unbelief  of  the  people, 
xii.  21-xiv.  11.  For  the  judgment  will  assuredly 
come  and  no  intercession  will  avail,  xiv.  12-23. 
Israel,  in  her  misery,  is  like  the  wood  of  the  vine, 

1  For  390  in  iv.  5  the  Septuagint  correctly  reads  190,  and  this 
includes  the  forty  years  of  Judah's  captivity. 


164   Old  Testament  Introduction 

unprofitable  to  begin  with,  and  now,  besides,  scarred 
and  burnt  (xv.)  ;  her  whole  career  has  been  one  of 
consistent  infidelity — Israel  and  Judah  alike  (xvi.). 
And  her  kings  are  as  perfidious  as  her  people — 
witness  Zedekiah's  treachery  to  the  king  of  Babylon 
(xvii.)-  But  contrary  to  prevalent  opinion,  the 
present  generation  is  not  atoning  for  the  sins  of  the 
past ;  every  man  is  free  and  responsible  and  is 
dealt  with  precisely  as  he  deserves — the  soul  that 
sinneth,  it  shall  die  (xviii.).  Then  follows  a  beauti- 
ful elegy  over  the  princes  of  Judah — Jehoahaz 
taken  captive  to  Egypt,  and  Jehoiachin  to  Babylon 

(xix.). 

The  third  cycle  (xx.-xxiv.)  is,  in  the  main,  a 
repetition  of  the  second.  From  the  very  day  of  her 
election,  Israel  has  been  unfaithful,  giving  herself 
over  to  idolatry,  immorality,  and  the  profanation 
of  the  Sabbath  (xx.).  But  the  devouring  fire  will 
consume,  and  the  sharp  sword  of  Nebuchadrezzar 
will  be  drawn,  first  against  Jerusalem,  and  then 
against  Ammon  (xxi.).  The  corruption  of  Jerusa- 
lem is  utter  and  absolute — princes,  priests,  prophets, 
and  people  (xxii.)  ;  and  this  corruption  has  char- 
acterized her  from  the  very  beginning — Samaria  and 
Jerusalem,  the  northern  and  southern  kingdoms 
alike  (xxiii.).  So  the  end  has  come  :  the  filth  and 
rust  of  the  empty  caldron — symbolic  of  Jerusalem 
after  the  first  deportation  in  597  B.C. — will  be  purged 
away  by  a  yet  fiercer  fire.  The  besieged  city  is  at 
length  captured,  and,  like  the  prophet's  wife,  it 
perishes  unmourned  (xxiv.). 

The  ministry  of  judgment,  so  far  as  it  concerns 
Jerusalem,  is  now  over,  and  Ezekiel  is  free  to  turn 


Ezekiel  165 

to  the  more  congenial  task  of  consolation  and  pro- 
mise. But  a  negative  condition  of  the  restoration 
of  Israel  is  the  removal  of  impediments  to  her 
welfare,  and  next  to  her  own  sins  her  enemies  are 
the  greatest  obstacle  to  her  restoration  ;  it  is  with 
them,  therefore,  that  the  following  prophecies  are 
concerned. 

The  seven  oracles  in  chs.  xxv.-xxxii.  (587-586 
B.C.,  cf.  xxvi.  1,  except  xxix.  17-21  in  570  B.C.)  are 
directed  against  Ammon,  Moab,  Edom,  Philistia 
(xxv.),  Tyre,  xxvi.  i-xxviii.  19,  Sidon,  xxviii. 
20-26,  and  Egypt  (xxix.-xxxii.).  Tyre  and  Egypt 
receive  elaborate  attention  ;  the  other  peoples  are 
dismissed  with  comparatively  brief  notice.  The 
general  reason  assigned  for  the  destruction  of  the 
smaller  peoples  in  xxv.  is  their  vengeful  attitude 
to  Israel.  Ammon  in  particular  is  singled  out  for 
her  malicious  joy  over  the  destruction  of  the  temple 
and  her  mockery  of  the  captive  Jews.  The  de- 
struction of  these  people  is  no  doubt  to  be  brought 
about  indirectly,  if  not  directly,  as  in  the  case  of 
Tyre,  xxvi.  7,  and  Egypt,  xxix.  19,  by  Nebuchad- 
rezzar. The  oracle  against  Tyre  is  one  of  Ezekiel's 
most  brilliant  compositions.  The  glorious  city  is 
to  be  stormed  and  destroyed  by  Nebuchadrezzar 
(xxvi.),  and  her  fall  is  celebrated  in  a  splendid 
dirge,  in  which  she  is  compared  to  a  noble  merchant 
ship  wrecked  by  a  furious  storm  upon  the  high  seas 
(xxvii.)  ;  her  proud  prince  will  be  humbled  to  the 
ground  (xxviii.).  Egypt  is  similarly  threatened 
with  a  desolating  invasion  at  the  hands  of  Nebuch- 
chadrezzar  ;  the  conquest  of  that  country  is  to  be  his 
recompense  for  his  failure,   contrary  to  Ezekiel's 


1 66   Old  Testament  Introduction 

expectations,  to  capture  Tyre  (xxix.).  The  day 
of  Jehovah  draws  nigh  upon  Egypt  (xxx.)  ;  like 
a  proud  cedar  she  will  be  felled  by  the  hand  of 
Nebuchadrezzar  (xxxi.),  and  her  fall  is  celebrated 
in  two  dirges — one  in  which  Pharaoh  is  compared 
to  a  crocodile  ;  the  other,  weird  and  striking,  de- 
scribes the  arrival  of  the  slain  Egyptians  in  the 
world  below  (xxxii.). 

With  the  disappearance  of  Israel's  enemies,  one 
of  the  great  obstacles  to  her  restoration  has  been 
removed  ;  but  the  greatest  obstacle  is  in  Israel  her- 
self. She  has  been  stiff-necked  and  rebellious  :  now 
that  the  prophet's  words  have  proved  true,1  each 
individual  for  himself  must  give  heed  to  his  warning 
voice,  not  merely  consulting  him,  but  obeying  him 
(xxxiii.).  Then  Jehovah  will  manifest  His  grace  in 
many  ways.  He  will  send  them  an  ideal  king, 
unlike  the  mercenary  rulers  of  the  past,  who  had 
plundered  the  flock  (xxxiv.).  He  will  destroy  the 
unbrotherly  Edomites  (xxxv.)  and  bless  His  people 
Israel  with  the  peaceful  possession  of  a  fruitful  land, 
and  with  the  better  blessing  of  the  new  heart  (xxxvi.). 
Finally,  He  will  wake  the  people,  who  are  now  as 
good  as  dead,  to  a  new  life,  and  unite  the  long 
sundered  Israel  and  Judah  under  one  sceptre  for 
ever  (xxxvii.).  In  the  final  assault  which  will  be 
made  against  His  people  by  the  mysterious  hordes 
of  Gog  from  the  north,  He  will  preserve  them  from 
danger,  and  multitudes  of  the  assailants  will  fall  and 
be  buried  in  the  land  of  Israel  (xxxviii.,  xxxix.). 

1  In  xxxiii.  2 1  the  twelfth  year  should  be  the  eleventh  (cf.  xxvi. 
1 ).  The  news  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  would  not  take  over  a  year 
to  travel  to  Babylon. 


Ezekiel  167 

Probably  the  book  originally  ended  here  :  but 
from  Ezekiel's  point  of  view,  the  remaining  chapters 
(xl.-xlviii.)  are  thoroughly  integral  to  it,  if  indeed 
they  be  not  its  climax .  The  people  are  now  redeemed 
and  restored  to  their  own  land  :  the  problem  is, 
how  shall  they  maintain  the  proper  relations  between 
themselves  and  their  God  ?  The  unorganized  com- 
munity must  become  a  church,  and  an  elaborate 
organization  is  provided  for  it.  The  temple,  with 
its  buildings,  is  therefore  first  minutely  described, 
as  that  is  to  be  the  earthly  residence  of  the  people's 
God  ;  then  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  priests  are 
strictly  regulated  :  and  lastly  the  holy  land  is  so 
redistributed  among  the  tribes  that  the  temple  is 
practically  in  the  centre. 

Chs.  xl.-xliii.  embrace  the  description  and 
measurement  of  the  temple,  with  its  courts,  gate- 
ways, chambers,  decorations,  priests'  rooms  and 
altar.  When  all  is  ready,  Jehovah  solemnly  enters, 
xliii.  1-12,  by  the  gate  from  which  Ezekiel  had  in 
vision  seen  Him  leave  almost  nineteen  years  before, 
x.  19.  The  sanctity  of  the  temple  where  Jehovah  is 
henceforth  to  dwell  must  be  scrupulously  maintained, 
and  this  is  secured  by  the  regulations  in  xliv.-xlvi. 
The  menial  services  of  the  sanctuary,  which  were 
formerly  performed  by  foreigners,  are  to  be  hence- 
forth performed  by  Levites.  Then  follow  regula- 
tions determining  the  duties  and  revenues  of  the 
priests,  the  territory  to  be  occupied  by  them,  also 
by  the  Levites,  the  city  and  the  prince  ;  the  leligious 
duties  of  the  prince,  and  the  rite  of  atonement  for 
the  temple.  The  whole  description  is  a  striking 
counterpart  to  the  earlier  vision  of  the  desecration 


1 68    Old  Testament  Introduction 

of  the  temple  (viii.).  The  last  section  (xlvii.,  xlviii.) 
deals  with  the  land  which  in  these  latter  days  is 
to  share  the  redemption  of  the  people.  The  barren 
ground  near  the  Dead  Sea  is  to  be  made  fertile,  and 
the  waters  of  that  sea  sweet,  by  a  stream  issuing 
from  underneath  the  temple.  The  land  will  be  re- 
distributed, seven  tribes  north  and  five  south  of  the 
temple,  and  the  city  will  bear  the  name  "  Jehovah 
is  there  " — symbolic  of  the  abiding  presence  of  the 
people's  God. 

Whatever  be  the  precise  meaning  of  the  much 
disputed  "  thirtieth  year  "  in  i.  i,  Ezekiel  was  born 
probably  about  or  not  long  before  the  time  Jeremiah 
began  his  ministry  in  626  B.C.  As  a  young  man,  he 
must  have  heard  Jeremiah  preach,  and  this,  coupled 
with  the  fact  that  some  of  Jeremiah's  prophecies 
were  in  circulation  about  eight  years  before  Ezekiel 
went  into  exile  (605-597)  explains  the  profound 
influence  which  the  older  prophet  plainly  exercised 
upon  the  younger.  With  Jehoiachin  and  the 
aristocracy,  Ezekiel  was  taken  in  597  to  Babylon, 
where  he  lived  with  his  wife,  xxiv.  16,  among  the 
Jewish  colony  on  the  banks  of  the  Chebar,  one  of  the 
canals  tributary  to  the  Euphrates,  i.  3. 

Never  had  a  prophet  been  more  necessary.  The 
people  left  behind  in  the  land  were  thoroughly  de- 
praved, xxxiii.  25ff.,  the  exiles  were  not  much  better, 
xiv.  3ff. — they  are  a  rebellious  house,  ii.  6  ;  and  even 
worse  than  they  are  the  exiles  who  came  with  the 
second  deportation  in  586,  xiv.  22.  Idolatry  of 
many  kinds  had  been  practised  (viii.) ;  and  now 
that  the  penalty  was  being  paid  in  exile,  the  people 


Ezekiel  i6g 


were  helpless,  xxxvii.  n.  For  six  years  and  a  half 
— till  the  city  fell — Ezekiel's  ministry  was  one  of 
reproof  ;  after  that,  of  consolation.  The  prophet 
becomes  a  pastor.  His  ministry  lasted  at  least 
twenty-two  years,  the  last  dated  prophecy  being  in 
570  (xxix.  17)  ;  for  thirteen  years  before  the  writing 
of^chs.  xl.-xlviii.  in  572  B.C.  there  is  no  dated  pro- 
phecy, xxxii.  1, 17,  so  that  this  sketch  of  ecclesiastical 
organization,  pathetic  as  embodying  an  old  man's 
hope  for  the  future,  stands  among  his  most  mature 
and  deliberate  work.  His  absolute  candour  is 
strikingly  shown  by  his  refusal  to  cancel  his  original 
prophecy  of  the  capture  of  Tyre  by  Nebuchadrezzar, 
xxvi.  7,  8,  which  had  not  been  fulfilled  ;  he  simply 
appends  another  oracle  and  allows  the  two  to  stand 
side  by  side,  xxix.  17-20. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  Ezekiel  prophecy  has  travelled 
far  from  the  methods,  expressions  and  hopes  that  had 
characterized  it  in  the  days  of  Amos  and  Isaiah,  or 
even  of  Ezekiel's  immediate  predecessor  and  con- 
temporary, Jeremiah.  In  these  books  there  are 
visions,  such  as  those  of  Amos,  vii.  1,  viii.  1,  ix.  1,  and 
symbolic  acts  like  that  of  Isaiah,  xx.  2,  walking 
barefoot ;  but  there  such  things  are  only  occasional, 
here  they  abound.  Their  interpretation,  too,  is 
beset  by  much  uncertainty.  Some  maintain  that 
the  symbolic  actions,  unless  when  they  are  obviously 
impossible,  were  really  performed ;  others  regard 
them  simply  as  part  of  the  imaginative  mechanism 
of  the  book.  The  dumbness,  e.g.,  with  which 
Ezekiel  was  afflicted  for  a  period,  hi.  26,  xxiv.  27, 
xxxiii.  22,  and  which  has  been  interpreted  as  "  a 
sense  of  restraint  and  defeat,"  may  very  well  have 


170   Old  Testament  Introduction 

been  real,  and  connected,  as  has  been  recently  sup- 
posed, with  certain  pathological  conditions  ;  but  it 
is  hardly  to  be  believed  that  he  lay  on  one  side  for 
190  days  *  (iv.  5).  Again,  though  the  curious  action 
representing  the  threefold  fate  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  in  ch.  v.  is  somewhat  grotesque,  it  is  not 
absolutely  impossible  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
the  command  to  eat  bread  and  drink  water  "  with 
trembling  "  can  be  taken  literally,  xii.  18.  As  the 
first  symbolic  action  in  the  book — the  eating  of  the 
roll,  iii.  1-3 — must  be  interpreted  figuratively,  it 
would  seem  not  unfair  to  apply  this  principle  to  all 
such  actions.  It  is  even  applied  by  Reuss  to  the 
very  circumstantial  story  of  the  death  of  the  pro- 
phet's wife,  xxiv.  15ft.,  which  he  characterizes  as  an 
"  easily  deciphered  hieroglyph." 

Again,  in  spite  of  their  highly  elaborated  detail,  the 
visions  appeal,  and  are  intended  to  appeal,  rather  to 
the  mind  than  to  the  eye.  Such  a  vision  as  that  of 
the  divine  chariot  in  ch.  i.  could  not  be  transferred 
to  canvas  ;  and  if  it  could,  the  effect  would  be 
anything  but  impressive.  Regarded,  however,  as  a 
creation  of  the  intellectual  imagination,  suggesting 
as  it  does  certain  attributes  of  God,  and  clothing 
them  with  a  mysterious  and  indefinable  majesty,  it 
is  not  without  an  impressiveness  of  its  own. 

A  similar  sense  of  unreality  has  been  held  to  per- 
vade the  speeches.  It  has  been  asserted  that  they 
are  simply  artificial  compositions,  never  addressed 
and  not  capable  of  being  addressed  to  any  audience 
of  living  men.     Certainly  one  can  hardly  conceive  of 

1  So  the  Septuagint. 


Ezekiel  171 

the  last  chapters,  with  their  minute  description  of 
the  temple  buildings,  officers  and  ceremonies,  as 
forming  part  of  a  public  address  ;  and  some  even  of 
the  earlier  chapters,  e.g.-  xvi.,  xxiii.,  do  not  suggest 
that  living  contact  with  an  audience  which  invests 
the  earlier  prophets  with  their  perennial  dramatic 
interest.  At  the  same  time,  to  regard  him  simply  as 
an  author  and  in  no  sense  as  a  public  man  would 
undoubtedly  be  to  do  him  less  than  justice,  cf.  xi. 
25.  He  was  in  any  case  a  pastor — a  new  office  in 
Israel,  to  which  he  was  led  by  his  overwhelming 
sense  of  the  indefeasible  importance  of  the  individual 
(hi.  i8ff.,  xviii.,  xxxiii.).  But — especially  in  his 
earlier  ministry,  till  the  fall  of  the  city — he  was 
prophet  as  well  as  pastor,  with  a  public  message  of 
condemnation  very  much  like  that  of  his  predeces- 
sors. His  reputation  as  a  prophet  naturally  rose 
with  the  corroboration  which  his  words  had  received 
from  the  fall  of  the  city,  xxxiii.  30,  but  even  before 
this  it  must  have  been  ]  igh,  as  we  find  him  frequently 
consulted,  viii.  1,  xiv.  1,  xx.  1  ;  and  though  behind 
the  real  audience  he  addresses,  we  often  cannot  help 
feeling  that  his  words  have  in  view  that  larger 
Israel  of,,  which  the  exiles  form  a  part  (cf.  vi.),  the 
chapters,  as  they  now  stand,  are  no  doubt  in  most 
cases  expansions  of  actual  addresses.  This  view  is 
strengthened  by  the  precision  of  the  numerous 
chronological  notices,  cf.  viii.  1. 

There  is  another  important  aspect  in  which  the 
contrast  between  Ezekiel  and  the  pre-exilic  prophets 
is  very  great  :  viz.  in  his  attitude  to  ritual.  Every 
one  of  them  had  expressed  in  emphatic  language  the 
relative,  if  not  the  absolute,  indifference  of  ritual  to 


172    Old  Testament  Introduction 

true  religion  (Amos  v.  25,  Hos.  vi.  6,  Isa.  i.  nff., 
Mic.  vi.  6-8).  No  one  had  expressed  himself  in 
language  more  strong  and  unmistakable  than 
Ezekiel's  contemporary,  Jeremiah.  Yet  Ezekiel 
himself  devotes  no  less  than  nine  chapters  to  a  de- 
tailed programme  for  the  ecclesiastical  organization 
of  the  state  after  the  return  from  exile  (xl.-xlviii.). 
With  some  justice  Lucien  Gautier  has  called  him 
the  "  clerical  "  prophet,  and  Duhm  goes  so  far  as  to 
say  that  he  annihilated  spontaneous  and  ethical 
religion.  This,  as  we  shall  see,  is  a  grave  exagger- 
ation ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  Ezekiel  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  prophecy  has  shifted.  He  threw 
ritual  into  a  prominence  which,  in  prophecy,  it  had 
never  had  before,  and  which,  from  his  day  on,  it 
successfully  maintained  (cf.  Hag.,  Zech.,  Mai.). 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  justly  the  importance  to 
Hebrew  religion  of  the  new  turn  given  to  it  by 
Ezekiel  :  it  seems  to  be,  and  in  reality  it  is,  a  descent 
from  the  more  purely  spiritual  and  ethical  conception 
of  the  earlier  prophets.  But  two  things  have  to  be 
remembered  (1)  that,  for  the  situation  contemplated 
by  Ezekiel,  such  a  programme  as  that  which  he  drew 
up  was  a  practical  religious  necessity.  The  spiritual 
atmosphere  in  which  Jeremiah  drew  his  breath  so 
freely  was  too  rare  for  the  average  Israelite.  Re- 
ligious conceptions  had  to  be  expressed  in  material 
symbols.  The  land  and  the  temple  had  been  pro- 
faned by  sin  (viii.) ;  after  the  return,  their  holiness 
must  be  secured  and  guaranteed,  and  Ezekiel's 
legislation  makes  the  necessary  provision  by  trans- 
lating that  idea  into  specific  and  concrete  applica- 
tions. 


Ezekiel  173 

But  (2)  though  ritual  interests  are  very  prominent 
towards  the  close  of  the  book,  they  do  not  by  any 
means  exhaust  the  religious  interests  of  Ezekiel.  If 
not  very  frequently,  at  any  rate  very  deliberately 
and  emphatically,  he  asserts  the  ethical  elements 
that  are  inseparable  from  true  religion  and  the  moral 
responsibility  of  the  individual  (hi.,  xviii.,  xxxiii.). 
Indeed,  the  background  of  xl -xlviii.  is  a  people 
redeemed  from  their  sin.  The  worshippers  are  the 
redeemed ;  and  even  in  this  almost  exclusively 
ritual  section  ethical  interests  are  not  forgotten, 
xlv.  gff.  In  interpreting  the  mind  of  the  man  who 
sketched  this  priestly  legislation,  it  is  surely  unfair 
to  ignore  those  profound  and  noble  utterances 
touching  the  necessity  of  the  new  heart,  xviii.  31, 
xxxvi.  26,  and  the  new  spirit,  xi.  19,  utterances 
which  have  the  ring  of  some  of  the  greatest  words  of 
Jeremiah. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  Ezekiel  did 
not  fully  realize  the  implications  of  these  profound 
words  :  he  at  once  proceeds  to  apply  them  in  a  some- 
what mechanical  way,  which  suggests  that  his  re- 
ligion is  a  thing  of  "  statutes  and  judgments,"  if  it 
is  also  a  thing  of  the  spirit,  xxxvi.  27  (cf.  xx.  n,  13), 
and  this  tendency  to  a  mechanical  view  of  things  is 
characteristic  of  the  prophet.  Even  in  the  great 
chapter  asserting  the  responsibility  of  the  individual 
(xviii.)  something  of  this  tendency  appears  in  the 
isolation  of  the  various  periods  of  the  individual  life 
from  each  other.  It  shows  itself  again  in  his  de- 
scription of  the  river  that  issues  from  under  the 
threshold  of  the  temple,  xlvii.  3-6.  His  imagination, 
which  was  considerably  influenced  by  Babylonian 


174   Old  Testament   Introduction 

art,  is  undisciplined.  Images  are  worked  out  with 
a  detail  artistically  unnecessary,  and  aesthetically 
sometimes  offensive  (xvi.,  xxiii.).  On  the  other  hand 
the  book  is  not  destitute  of  noble  and  chastened 
imaginations.  The  weird  fate  of  Egypt  in  the 
underworld,  xxxii.  17-32,  the  glory  of  Tyre  and  the 
horror  which  her  fate  elicits  (xxvii.)  are  described 
with  great  power.  Nothing  could  be  more  impres- 
sive than  the  vision  of  the  valley  of  dry  bones— the 
fearful  solitude  and  the  mysterious  resurrection 
(xxxvii.).  Ezekiel's  imaginative  power  perhaps 
reaches  its  climax  in  his  vision  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  her  idolatrous  people  :  on  the  judg- 
ment day  we  see  the  corpses  of  the  sinners,  slain  by 
supernatural  executioners,  lying  silently  in  the 
temple  court,  the  prophet  prostrate  and  sorrowful, 
and  the  angel  departing  with  glowing  coals  to  set 
fire  to  the  guilty  city,  ix.  i-x.  7. 

The  two  chief  elements  in  later  Judaism  practically 
owe  their  origin  to  Ezekiel,  viz.  apocalypse  and 
legalism .  The  former  finds  expression  in  chs .  xxx viii . , 
xxxix.,  where,  preliminary  to  Israel's  restoration, 
Gog  of  the  land  of  Magog — an  ideal,  rather  than, 
like  the  Assyrians  or  Babylonians,  an  historical 
enemy  of  Israel — is  to  be  destroyed.  We  have 
already  seen  how  prominent  the  legalistic  interest  is 
in  xl.-xlviii.,  but  it  is  also  apparent  elsewhere. 
Ezekiel,  e.g.,  lays  unusual  stress  upon  the  institution 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  counts  its  profanation  one  of  the 
gravest  of  the  national  sins,  xx.  12,  xxii.  8,  xxiii.  38. 
The  priestly  interests  of  Ezekiel  are  easily  explained 
by  his  early  environment.  He  belonged  by  birth 
to  the  Jerusalem  priesthood,  i.  3,  xliv.  15,  and  he 


Ezekiel  175 


received  his  early  training  under  the  prophetico- 
priestly  impulse  of  the  Deuteronomic  reformation. 

From  the  critical  standpoint,  the  book  of  Ezekiel 
is  of  the  highest  importance.  Chs.  xl.-xlviii.  fall 
midway  between  the  simpler  legislation  of  Deu- 
teronomy, and  the  very  elaborate  legislation  of  the 
priestly  parts  of  the  Pentateuch.  This  is  especially 
plain  in  the  laws  affecting  the  priests  and  the 
Levites. 

In  Deuteronomy  no  distinction  is  made  between 
them  ;  there  the  phrase  is,  "  the  priests  the  Levites  " 
(Deut.  xviii.  i) ;  in  the  priestly  code  (cf.  Num.  hi. 
iv.,v.)  they  are  verysharply  distinguished,  the  Levites 
being  reserved  for  the  more  menial  work  of  the 
sanctuary.  Now  the  origin  of  this  distinction  can 
be  traced  to  Ezekiel,  according  to  whom  the  Levites 
were  the  priests  who  had  been  degraded  from  their 
priestly  office,  because  they  had  ministered  in 
idolatrous  worship  at  the  high  places,  xliv.  6fL, 
whereas  the  priests  were  the  Zadokites  who  had 
ministered  only  at  J  erusalem .  The  natural  inference 
is  that,  at  least  in  this  respect,  the  priestly  legislation 
of  the  Pentateuch  is  later  than  Ezekiel.  A  close 
study  of  chs.  xl.-xlviii.  enables  us  to  extend  this 
inference.  Between  Ezekiel  and  that  legislation 
there  are  serious  differences  (cf.  xlvi.  13,  Exod.  xxix. 
38,  Num.  xxviii.  4),  which,  as  early  as  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era,  gave  much  perplexity  to  Jewish 
scholars.  "  According  to  the  traditional  view,"  as 
Reuss  has  said,  "  Ezekiel  would  be  reforming,  not 
Israel,  but  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  and  the  mouth 
of  Jehovah  Himself."  We  have  no  alternative, 
then,  but  to  suppose  that  Ezekiel  is  earlier  than  the 


176   Old   Testament  Introduction 

priestly  legislation  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  that  this 
sketch  in  xl.-xlviii.  prepared  the  way  for  it. 

In  Ezekiel  the  older  prophetic  conception  of  God 
has  undergone  a  change.  It  has  become  more 
transcendental,  with  the  result  that  the  love  of  God 
is  overshadowed  by  His  holiness.  It  is  of  His  grace, 
no  doubt,  that  the  people  are  ultimately  saved  ; 
but,  according  to  Ezekiel,  He  is  prompted  to  His 
redemptive  work  not  so  much  out  of  pity  for  the 
fallen  people,  xxxvi.  22,  but  rather  "  for  His  name's 
sake,"  xx.  44 — that  name  which  has  been  profaned 
by  Israel  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  xx.  14.  The 
goal  of  history  is,  in  Ezekiel's  ever-recurring  phrase, 
that  men  may  "  know  that  I  am  Jehovah."  Cor- 
responding to  this  transcendental  view  of  God  is 
his  view  of  man  as  frail  and  weak — over  and  over 
again  Ezekiel  is  addressed  as  "  child  of  man  " — and 
history  has  only  too  faithfully  exhibited  that  in- 
herent and  all  but  ineradicable  weakness.  While 
other  prophets,  like  Hosea  and  Jeremiah,  had  seen 
in  the  earlier  years  of  Israel's  history,  a  dawn  which 
bore  the  promise  of  a  beautiful  day,  to  Ezekiel  that 
history  has  from  the  very  beginning  been  one  un- 
broken record  of  apostasy  (xvi.,  xxiii.).  On  the 
other  hand,  Ezekiel  laid  a  wholesome,  if  perhaps 
exaggerated,  emphasis  on  the  possibility  of  human 
freedom.  A  man's  destiny,  he  maintained,  was  not 
irretrievably  determined  either  by  hereditary  in- 
fluences, xviii.  2ff .,  or  by  his  own  past,  xxxiii.  iof . 
Further,  Jeremiah  had  felt,  if  he  had  not  said,  that 
the  individual,  not  the  nation,  is  the  real  unit  in 
religion  :    to  Ezekiel  belongs  the  merit  of  supple- 


Ezekiel  177 

menting  this  conception  by  that  other,  that  religion 
implies  fellowship,  and  that  individuals  find  their 
truest  religious  life  only  when  united  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  (xl.-xlviii.). 


12 


Hosea 

The  book  of  Hosea  divides  naturally  into  two  parts  : 
i.-iii.  and  iv.-xiv.,  the  former  relatively  clear  and 
connected,  the  latter  unusually  disjointed  and 
obscure.  The  difference  is  so  unmistakable  that 
i.-iii.  have  usually  been  assigned  to  the  period  before 
the  death  of  Jeroboam  II,  and  iv.-xiv.  to  the 
anarchic  period  which  succeeded.  Certainly  Hosea's 
prophetic  career  began  before  the  end  of  Jeroboam's 
reign,  as  he  predicts  the  fall  of  the  reigning  dynasty, 
i.  4,  which  practically  ended  with  Jeroboam's  death.1 
But  i.-iii.  seem  to  be  the  result  of  long  and  agonized 
meditation  on  the  meaning  of  his  wedded  life  :  it  was 
not  at  once  that  he  discovered  Gomer  to  be  an 
unfaithful  wife,  i.  2,  and  it  must  have  been  later  still 
that  he  learned  to  interpret  the  impulse  which  led 
him  to  her  and  threw  such  sorrow  about  his  life, 
as  a  word  of  the  Lord,  i.  2.  These  chapters  were 
probably  therefore  written  late,  though  the  experi- 
ences they  record  were  early. 

Of  the  date,  generally  speaking,  of  iv.-xiv.  there 
can  be  no  doubt  :  they  reflect  but  too  faithfully  the 
confusion  of  the  times  that  followed  Jeroboam's 
death.  It  is  a  period  of  hopeless  anarchy.  Moral 
law  is  set  at  defiance,  and  society,  from  one  end  to 
the  other,  is  in  confusion,  iv.  1,  2,  vii.  1.  The  court  is 
corrupt,  conspiracies  are  rife,  kings  are  assassinated, 

1  Zechariah  his  son  reigned  for  only  six  months. 

178 


Hosea  179 

vii.  3-7,  x.  15.  We  are  irresistibly  reminded  of  the 
rapid  succession  of  kings  that  followed  Jeroboam — 
Zechariah  his  son,  Shallum,  Menahem,  Pekahiah, 
Pekah.  Gilead,  however,  is  still  part  of  the  northern 
kingdom,  vi.  8,  xii.  n,  so  that  the  deportation  effected 
by  Tiglath  Pileser  in  734  B.C.  has  not  yet  taken  place 
(2  Kings  xv.  29).  Further,  there  is  no  mention  of 
the  combination  of  Israel  and  Aram  against  Judah  ; 
and,  as  Hosea  was  a  very  close  observer  of  the 
political  situation,  his  silence  on  this  point  may  be 
assumed  to  imply  that  his  prophecies  fall  earlier 
than  735.  The  date  of  his  prophetic  career  may 
safely  be  set  about  743-736  B.C. 

In  chs.  i.  and  iii.  Hosea  reads  the  experiences  of 
his  wedded  life  as  a  symbol  of  Jehovah's  experience 
with  Israel.  Gomer  bore  him  three  children,  to 
whom  he  gave  names  symbolic  of  the  impending 
fate  *  of  Israel,  i.  1-9.  The  faithless  Gomer  aban- 
dons Hosea  for  a  paramour,  but  he  is  moved  by  his 
love  for  her  to  buy  her  out  of  the  degradation  into 
which  she  has  fallen,  and  takes  earnest  measures  to 
wean  her  to  a  better  mind.  All  this  Hosea  learns  to 
interpret  as  symbolic  of  the  divine  love  for  Israel, 
which  refuses  to  be  defeated,  but  will  seek  to  recover 
the  people,  though  it  be  through  the  stern  discipline 
of  exile  (iii.).  Ch.  ii.  elaborates  the  idea,  suggested 
by  these  chapters,  of  Israel's  adultery,  i.e.  of  her 
unfaithfulness  to  Jehovah,  of  the  fate  to  which  it 

1  Chs.  i.  10-ij.  1  interrupts  the  stern  context  with  an  outlook 
on  the  Messianic  days,  considers  Judah  as  well  as  Israel,  pre- 
supposes the  exile  of  Judah,  and  anticipates  ii.  21-23.  It  can 
hardly  therefore  be  Hosea's  ;  nor  can  i.  7,  which  is  quite  irrelevant 
and  appears  to  be  an  allusion  to  the  deliverance  of  Jerusalem 
from  Sennacherib  in  701  b.c. 


180   Old  Testament  Introduction 

will  bring  her,  and  of  her  redemption  from  that  fate 
by  the  love  of  her  God.1 

It  is  quite  impossible  even  to  attempt  a  summary 
of  iv.-xiv.,  partly  because  of  the  hopeless  corruption 
of  the  text  in  very  many  passages,  partly  from  the 
brevity  and  apparently  disjointed  nature  of  the 
individual  sections.  Possibly  this  is  due,  in  large 
measure,  to  later  redactors  of  the  book,  or  to  the 
fragmentary  reports  of  the  prophet's  addresses  ; 
perhaps,  however,  it  also  expresses  something  of  the 
abrupt  passion  of  his  speeches,  which,  as  Kautzsch 
says,  were  "  more  sob  than  speech."  The  general 
theme  of  this  division  appears  in  its  opening  words, 
"  There  is  no  fidelity  or  love  or  knowledge  of  God 
in  the  land,"  iv.  I. 

That  knowledge  of  God  is  in  part  innate  and 
universal  :  it  is  knowledge  of  God,  and  not  speci- 
fically of  Jehovah — not  knowledge  of  a  code,  but 
fidelity  to  the  demands  of  conscience.  It  was, 
however,  the  peculiar  business  of  the  priests  to  pro- 
claim and  develop  that  knowledge  ;  and  for  the 
deplorable  perversity  of  Israel,  they  are  largely  held 
responsible,  iv.  6.  The  worship  of  Jehovah,  which 
ought  to  be  a  moral  service,  vi.  6,  is  indistinguishable 
from  Baal  worship  (ii.)  and  idolatry.  Upon  the  calf, 
the  symbol  under  which  Jehovah  was  worshipped, 
and  upon  those  who  worship  Him  thus,  Hosea  pours 
indignant  and  sarcastic  scorn,  viii.  5,  6,  x.  5,  xiii.  2. 

1  It  is  much  more  satisfactory  to  interpret  i.,  iii.  as  a  real 
experience  of  Hosea,  and  not  simply  as  an  allegory.  If  it  be 
objected,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  names  of  the  last  two  children 
are  not  probable  names,  it  may  be  urged,  on  the  other,  that 
Corner  seems  to  be  an  actual  name,  for  which  no  plausible  alle- 
gorical meaning  has  been  suggested. 


Hosea  1 8 1 

Ignorance  of  the  true  nature  of  God  is  at  the  root  of 
the  moral  and  political  confusion.  It  is  this  that 
leads  the  one  party  to  coquet  with  Egypt  and  the 
other  with  Assyria,  vii.  n,  viii.  9,  xi.  5,  xii.  1,  and 
the  price  paid  for  Assyrian  intervention  was  a  heavy 
one  (2  Kings  xv.  19,  20,  cf .  Hosea  v.  13).  The  native 
kings,  too,  are  as  impotent  to  heal  Israel's  wounds 
as  the  foreigners,  vii.  y,  x.  y  ;  and  though  it  might 
be  too  much  to  say  that  Hosea  condemns  the  mon- 
archy as  an  institution,  viii.  4,  the  impotence  of 
the  kings  to  stem  the  tide  of  disaster  is  too  painfully 
clear  to  him,  x.  7,  15. 

Whether  Hosea  ever  alludes  to  Judah  in  his 
genuine  prophecies  is  very  doubtful.  Some  of  the 
references  are  obvious  interpolations  (cf.  i.  7),  and 
for  one  reason  or  another,  nearly  all  of  them  are 
suspicious  :  in  vi.  4,  e.g.,  the  parallelism  (cf.  v.  10) 
suggests  that  Israel  should  be  read  instead  of  Judah. 
But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  message  of  Hosea 
is  addressed  in  the  main,  if  not  exclusively,  to 
northern  Israel.  It  is  her  land  that  is  the  land,  i.  2, 
cf.  4,  her  king  that  is  "  our  king,"  vii.  5,  the  worship 
of  her  sanctuaries  that  he  exposes,  and  her  politics 
that  he  deplores. 

If  Amos  is  the  St.  James  of  the  Old  Testament, 
Hosea  is  the  St.  John.  It  is  indeed  possible  to  draw 
the  contrast  too  sharply  between  Amos  and  Hosea, 
as  is  done  when  it  is  asserted  that  Amos  is  the  cham- 
pion of  morality  and  Hosea  of  religion.  Amos  is 
not,  however,  a  mere  moralist ;  he  no  less  than  Hosea 
demands  a  return  to  Jehovah,  iv.  6,  8,  v.  6,  but  he 
undoubtedly  lays  the  emphasis  on  the  moral  ex- 


I  8  2   Old  Testament   Introduction 

pression  of  the  religious  impulse,  while  Hosea  is  more 
concerned  with  religion  at  its  roots  and  in  its  essence. 
Thus  Hosea's  work,  besides  being  supplementary  to 
that  of  Amos,  emphasizing  the  love  of  God  where 
Amos  had  emphasized  His  righteousness,  is  also  more 
fundamental  than  his.  There  is  something  of  the 
mystic,  too,  in  Hosea  :  in  all  experience  he  finds 
something  typical.  The  character  of  the  patriarch 
Jacob  is  an  adumbration  of  that  of  his  descendants 
(xii.),  and  his  own  love  for  his  unfaithful  wife  is  a 
shadow  of  Jehovah's  love  for  Israel  (i.-iii.). 

His  message  to  Israel  was  a  stern  one,  probably 
even  sterner  than  it  now  reads  in  the  received  text 
of  many  passages,  e.g.,  xi.  8,  9.  He  represents 
Jehovah  as  saying  to  Israel :  "  Shall  I  set  thee  free 
from  the  hand  of  Sheol  ?  Shall  I  redeem  thee  from 
death  ?  Hither  with  thy  plagues,  O  death  !  Hither 
with  thy  pestilence,  0  Sheol !  Repentance  is  hidden 
from  mine  eyes,"  xiii.  14.  But  it  is  too  much  to  say 
with  some  scholars  that  the  sternness  is  unqualified 
and  to  deny  to  the  prophet  the  hope  so  beautifully 
expressed  in  the  last  chapter.  There  were  elements 
in  Hosea's  experience  of  his  own  heart  which  sug- 
gested that  the  love  of  Jehovah  was  a  love  which 
would  not  let  His  people  go,  and  ch.  xiv.  (except  v.  9) 
may  well  be  retained,  almost  in  its  entirety,  for 
Hosea.  His  passion,  though  not  robust,  like  that  of 
Amos,  is  tender  and  intense,  xi.  3,  4  :  as  Amos 
pleads  for  righteousness,  he  pleads  for  love  (Hos.  vi. 
6),  hesed,  a  word  strangely  enough  never  used  by 
Amos  ;  and  it  is  no  accident  that  the  great  utterance 
of  Hosea — "  I  will  have  love  and  not  sacrifice,"  vi.  6 — 
had  a  special  attraction  for  Jesus  (Matt.  ix.  13,  xii.  7). 


Joel 


The  book  of  Joel  admirably  illustrates  the  intimate 
connection  which  subsisted  for  the  prophetic  mind 
between  the  sorrows  and  disasters  of  the  present  and 
the  coming  day  of  Jehovah  :  the  one  is  the  immediate 
harbinger  of  the  other.  In  an  unusually  devastating 
plague  of  locusts,  which,  like  an  army  of  the  Lord,1 
has  stripped  the  land  bare  and  brought  misery  alike 
upon  city  and  country,  man  and  beast — "  for  the 
beasts  of  the  field  look  up  sighing  unto  Thee,"  i.  20 — 
the  prophet  sees  the  forerunner  of  such  an  impending 
day  of  Jehovah,  bids  the  priests  summon  a  solemn 
assembly,  and  calls  upon  the  people  to  fast  and  mourn 
and  turn  in  penitence  to  God.  Their  penitence  is 
met  by  the  divine  pity  and  rewarded  by  the  promise 
not  only  of  material  restoration  but  of  an  outpouring 
of  the  spirit  upon  all  Judah,2  which  is  to  be  accom- 
panied by  marvellous  signs  in  the  natural  world. 
The  restoration  of  Judah  has  as  its  correlative  the 
destruction  of  Judah's  enemies,  who  are  represented 
as  gathered  together  in  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat — 

1  Some  regard  the  locusts  as  an  allegorical  designation  for  an 
invading  army.  But  without  reason  :  in  ii.  7  they  are  compared 
to  warriors,  and  the  effect  of  their  devastations  is  described  in 
terms  inapplicable  to  an  army. 

2  The  sequel,  in  which  the  nations  are  the  objects  of  divine 
wrath,  shows  that  the  "  all  flesh,"  ii.  28,  must  be  confined  to 
Judah. 

1S3 


184   Old  Testament  Introduction 

i.e.  the  valley  where  "  Jehovah  judges  " — and  there 
the  divine  judgment  is  to  be  executed  upon  them. 

The  theological  value  of  the  book  of  Joel  lies 
chiefly  in  its  clear  contribution  to  the  conception  of 
the  day  of  Jehovah.  As  Marti  says,  "  The  book 
does  not  present  one  side  of  the  picture  only,  but 
combines  all  the  chief  traits  of  the  eschatological 
hope  in  an  instructive  compendium  " — the  effusion 
of  the  spirit,  the  salvation  of  Jerusalem,  the  judg- 
ment of  the  heathen,  the  fruitfulness  of  the  land,  the 
permanent  abode  of  Jehovah  upon  Zion.  These 
features  of  the  Messianic  hope  are,  in  the  main, 
characteristic  of  post-exilic  prophecy  ;  and  now, 
with  very  great  unanimity,  the  book  is  assigned,  in 
spite  of  its  position  near  the  beginning  of  the  minor 
prophets,  to  post-exilic  times. 

A  variety  of  considerations  appears  to  support  this 
date.  Judah  is  the  exclusive  object  of  interest. 
Israel  has  no  independent  existence,  and,  where  the 
name  is  mentioned,  it  is  synonymous  with  Judah, 
ii.  27,  iii.  2,  16.  Further,  the  people  are  scattered 
among  the  nations,  iii.  2,  and  strangers  are  not  to 
pass  through  the  "  holy "  Jerusalem  any  more, 
iii.  17.  The  exile  and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
by  Nebuchadrezzar  in  586  B.C.  appear  therefore  to 
be  presupposed.  But  the  temple  has  been  rebuilt ; 
there  are  numerous  allusions  to  priests  and  to  meat 
and  drink  offerings,  i.  9, 13,  ii.  14, 17,  and  an  assembly 
is  summoned  to  "  the  house  of  Jehovah  your  God," 
i.  14  :  the  reference  to  the  city  wall,  ii.  9,  would 
bring  the  date  as  late  as  Nehemiah  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury. Other  arguments,  though  more  precarious, 
are  not  without  weight,  e.g.,  the  ease  and  smoothness 


Joel 


185 


of  the  language,  the  allusion  to  the  Greeks,  iii.  6,  the 
absence  of  any  reference  to  the  sin  of  Judah,1  the 
apparent  citations  from  or  allusions  to  other  pro- 
phetic books.2 

The  effect  of  this  cumulative  argument  has  been 
supposed  to  be  overwhelming  in  favour  of  a  post- 
exilic  date.  Recently,  however,  Baudissin,  in  a  very 
careful  discussion,  has  ably  argued  for  at  least  the 
possibility  of  a  pre-exilic  date.  Precisely  in  the 
manner  of  Joel,  Amos  iv.  6-9  links  together  locusts 
and  drought  as  already  experienced  calamities. 
Both  alike  complain  of  the  Philistine  and  Phoenician 
slave-trade.  The  enemies — Edom,  Phoenicia,  Philis- 
tia,  iii.  4,  19 — fit  the  earlier  period  better  than  the 
Persian  or  Greek.  In  the  ninth  century,  Judah  was 
invaded  by  the  Philistines  and  Arabians  according 
to  the  Chronicler  (2  Chron.  xxi.  i6ff.),  whose  state- 
ments in  such  a  matter  there  is  no  reason  for  doubt- 
ing, and  Jerusalem  may  then  have  suffered  :  in  any 
case,  we  know  that  the  treasures  of  temple  \ and 
palace  were  plundered  as  early  as  Rehoboam's  time 
(1  Kings  xiv.  25ft.),  and  this  might  be  enough  to 
satisfy  the  allusion  in  Joel  iii.  17.  Again,  if  Joel  is 
smooth,  Amos  is  not  much  less  so  ;  and  linguistic 
peculiarities  that  seem  to  be  late  might  be  due  to 
dialect  or  personal  idiosyncrasy.  With  regard  to 
the  argument  from  citations,  it  would  be  possible 
to  maintain  that  Joel's  simple  and  natural  picture 
of  the  stream  from  the  temple  watering  the  acacia 
valley,   iii.  18,  was  not  borrowed  from,  but  rather 

1  Though  it  may  be  implied  in  ii.  12L 

2  Obad.  v.  17,  Jo.  ii.  32  ;  Amos  i.  2,  Jo.  iii.  16  ;  Amos  ix.  13, 
Jo.  iii.  18  ;    Ezek.  xlvii.  iff.,  Jo.  iii.  18. 


i  8  6    Old  Testament  Introduction 

suggested  the  more  elaborate  imagery  of  Ezekiel, 
xlvii.  For  these  and  other  reasons  Baudissin  sug- 
gests with  hesitation  that  a  date  slightly  before 
Amos  is  by  no  means  impossible.1 

The  question  is  much  more  than  an  academic  one, 
for  on  the  answer  to  it  will  depend  our  whole  con- 
ception of  the  development  of  Hebrew  prophecy. 
Sacerdotal  interests,  e.g.,  here  receive  a  prominence 
in  prophecy  which  we  are  accustomed  to  associate 
only  with  the  period  after  the  exile.  Here  again, 
the  promises  are  for  Judah,  the  threats  for  her  ene- 
mies— an  attitude  also  characteristic  of  post-exilic 
prophecy  :  it  is  customary  to  deny  to  the  pre-exilic 
prophets  any  word  of  promise  or  consolation  to  their 
own  people.  Obviously  if  the  priest  and  the  element 
of  promise  have  already  so  assured  a  place  in  the 
earliest  of  the  prophets,  the  ordinary  view  of  the 
course  of  prophecy  will  have  to  be  seriously 
modified.  The  lack  of  emphasis  displayed  by  Joel 
on  the  ethical  aspect  of  religion,  which  has  been 
made  to  tell  in  favour  of  a  late  date,  might  tell 
equally  well  in  favour  of  a  very  early  one.  Indeed, 
the  book  is  either  very  early  or  very  late  ;  and,  if 
early,  it  represents  what  we  might  call  the  pre- 
prophetic  type  of  Israel's  religion,  and  especially 
the  non-moral  aspirations  of  those  who,  in  Amos's 
time,  longed  for  the  day  of  Jehovah,  and  did  not 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Vernes,  Rothstein  and  Strack 
have  independently  reached  the  conclusion  that  chs.  i.,  ii.  have 
a  different  origin  from  iii.,  iv.  In  the  former,  the  state  still 
exists,  and  the  calamity  is  a  plague  of  locusts  ;  in  the  latter,  no 
account  is  taken  of  the  locusts — it  is  a  time  of  national  disaster. 
The  reasons,  however,  are  hardly  adequate  for  denying  the  unity 
of  the  book. 


Joel 


187 


know  that  for  them  it  meant  thick  darkness,  without 
a  streak  of  light  across  it  (Amos  v.  18).  On  the 
whole,  however,  the  balance  leans  to  a  post-exilic 
date.  The  Jewish  dispersion  seems  to  be  implied, 
iii.  2.  The  strange  visitation  of  locusts  suggests  to 
the  prophet  the  mysterious  army  from  the  north, 
ii.  20,  which  had  haunted  the  pages  of  Ezekiel 
(xxxviii.,  xxxix.)  ;  and  in  this  book,  prophecy  (i.,  ii.) 
merges  into  apocalyptic  (iii.,  iv.). 


Amos 

Amos,  the  first  of  the  literary  prophets,  is  also  one 
of  the  greatest.  Hosea  may  be  more  tender,  Isaiah 
more  serenely  majestic,  Jeremiah  more  passionately 
human  ;  but  Amos  has  a  certain  Titanic  strength 
and  rugged  grandeur  all  his  own.  He  was  a  shep- 
herd, i.  i,  vii.  15,  and  the  simplicity  and  sternness 
of  nature  are  written  deep  upon  his  soul.  He  is 
familiar  with  lions  and  bears,  hi.  8,  v.  19,  and  the 
terrors  of  the  wilderness  hover  over  all  his  message. 
He  had  observed  with  acuteness  and  sympathy  the 
great  natural  laws  which  the  experiences  of  his 
shepherd  life  so  amply  illustrated,  iii.  3ff.,  and  his 
simple  moral  sense  is  provoked  by  the  cities,  with 
the  immoral  civilization  for  which  they  stand.  With 
a  lofty  scorn  this  desert  man  looks  upon  the  palaces, 
i.  4,  etc.,  the  winter  and  the  summer  houses,  iii.  15, 
in  which  the  luxurious  and  rapacious  grandees  of  the 
time  indulged,  and  contemplates  their  ruin  with 
stern  satisfaction. 

Those  were  the  days  of  Jeroboam  II,  i.  1,  and,  as 
the  period  is  marked  by  an  easy  self-assurance,  and 
the  ancient  boundaries  of  Israel  are  restored,  vi.  14 
(cf.  2  Kings  xiv.  25,  28),  Amos  belongs,  no  doubt, 
to  the  latter  half  of  his  reign,  probably  as  late  as 
750  B.C.,  for  he  knows,  though  he  does  not  name, 
the  Assyrians,  vi.  14,  and  he  finds  in  their  irresistible 
progress  westwards  an  answer  to  the  moral  demands 
of  his  heart.     Israel's  exhausting  wars  with   the 

183 


Amos  i8g 

Arameans  were  now  over.  Aram  herself  had  been 
weakened  by  the  repeated  assaults  of  Assyria,  and 
Israel  was  enjoying  the  dangerous  fruits  of  peace. 
Extravagance  was  common,  and  drunkenness,  no 
less  among  the  women  than  the  men,  iv.  i.  The 
grossest  immorality  is  associated  even  with  public 
worship,  ii.  7,  and  religion  is  being  eaten  away  by 
the  canker  of  commercialism,  viii.  5.  The  poor  are 
driven  to  the  wall,  and  justice  is  set  at  defiance  by 
those  appointed  to  administer  it,  ii.  6,  v.  7.  Such 
was  the  society,  brilliant  without  and  corrupt  within, 
into  which  Amos  hurled  his  startling  message  that 
the  God  who  had  chosen  them,  iii.  2,  guided  their 
history,  ii.  9,  and  sent  them  prophets  to  interpret 
His  will,  ii.  11,  would  punish  them  for  their  iniqui- 
ties, iii.  2. 

It  is  not  certain  whether  the  unusually  skilful 
disposition  of  the  book  of  Amos  is  due  to  himself  or 
to  a  much  later  hand.1  It  has  three  great  divisions  : 
(a)  the  judgment  (i.,  ii.),  (b)  the  grounds  of  the 
judgment  (iii.— vi.),  (c)  visions  of  judgment,  with  an 
outlook  on  the  Messianic  days  (vii.-ix.).  In  chs.  i., 
ii.,  with  his  sense  of  an  impartial  and  universal 
moral  law,  Amos  sees  the  judgment  sweep  across 
seven  countries  in  the  west — Aram,  Philistia, 
Phoenicia,  Edom,  Ammon,  Moab  and  Israel.2     The 

1  Note  the  refrains  in  i.,  ii.,  cf.  i.  3,  6  ;  iii.-vi.  are  held  together 
by  three  "  hears,"  iii.  1,  iv.  1,  v.  1,  and  apparently  by  three 
"  woes,"  v.  7  (emended  text),  v.  18,  vi.  1  ;  so  the  visions  in  vii.-ix. 
are  introduced  by  "  Thus  hath  (the  Lord  Jehovah)  shown  me." 

2  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  colourless  oracle  against 
Judah,  ii.  4,  5,  couched  in  perfectly  general  terms,  is  original. 
Doubts  that  are  not  unreasonable  have  also  been  raised  regarding 
the  oracle  against  Edom,  i.  n,  12. 


i  go   Old  Testament  Introduction 

sins  denounced  are,  e.g.,  the  barbarities  of  warfare 
and  the  cruelties  of  the  slave  trade  ;  but  Amos 
dwells  with  special  emphasis  and  detail  on  the  sins 
of  Israel,  as  that  is  the  country  to  which,  though  a 
Judean,  he  has  been  specially  sent,  vii.  10,  15. 

In  the  next  section  (b)  he  begins  by  asserting  that 
Israel's  religious  prerogative  will  only  the  more  cer- 
tainly ensure  her  destruction,  and  justifies  his  threat 
of  doom  by  his  irrepressible  assurance  of  having 
heard  the  divine  voice,  hi.  1-8.  The  doom  is  de- 
served because  of  the  rapacity,  luxury,  hi.  9-15,  and 
drunkenness,  iv.  1-3,  nor  will  their  sumptuous  wor- 
ship save  them,  iv.  4,  5.  Warnings  enough  they 
have  had  already,  but  as  they  have  all  been  disre- 
garded, God  will  come  in  some  more  terrible  way, 
iv.  6-13.  Then  follows  a  lament,  v.  1-3,  and  an 
appeal  to  hate  the  evil  and  seek  God  and  the  good, 
v.  4-15  ;  otherwise  He  will  come  in  judgment  and 
the  "  day  of  Jehovah,"  for  which  the  people  long, 
will  be  a  day  of  storm  and  utter  darkness,  v.  16-20. 
To-day,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  Jehovah's 
demands  are  not  ritual  but  moral,  and  the  neglect 
of  them  will  end  in  captivity,  v.  21-27.  The  luxury 
and  self-assurance  of  the  people  are  again  scornfully 
denounced,  and  the  doom  of  exile  foretold  (vi.). 

(c)  Then  follow  visions  of  destruction  from  locusts 
and  drought,  vii.  1-6,  the  vision  of  the  plumbline, 
symbolical  of  the  straightness  to  which  Israel  has 
failed  to  conform,  vii.  7-9,  the  vision  of  the  summer 
fruit,  which,  by  a  play  upon  words,  portended  the 
end,  viii.  1-3,  and  the  vision  of  the  ruined  temple, 
ix.  1-7.  These  visions  are  interrupted  by  the  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  and  instructive  story  of  the 


Amos  i  g  i 

encounter  of  the  prophet  with  the  supercilious 
courtier-priest  of  Bethel,  and  Amos's  fearless  re- 
iteration of  his  message,  vii.  10-17  !  and  also  by 
the  section  viii.  4-14,  with  its  exposition  of  the  evils 
and  its  threats  of  judgment — a  section  more  akin  to 
iii.-vi.  than  to  vii.-ix.  The  book  concludes  with  an 
outlook  on  the  redemption  and  prosperity  which 
will  follow  in  the  Messianic  age,  ix.  8-15.  It  is 
hardly  possible  that  this  outlook  can  be  Amos's 
own.  In  one  whose  interest  in  morality  was  so  over- 
whelming, it  would  be  strange,  though  perhaps  not 
impossible,  that  the  golden  age  should  be  described 
in  terms  so  exclusively  material ;  but  the  historical 
implications  of  the  passage  are  not  those  of  Amos's 
time.  It  is  further  an  express  contradiction  of  the 
immediately  preceding  words,  ix.  2-5,  in  which,  with 
dreadful  earnestness,  the  prophet  has  expressed  the 
thought  of  an  inexorable  and  inevitable  judgment 
from  which  there  is  no  escape.  Besides,  while  Amos 
addresses  Israel,  this  passage  deals  with  Judah,  pre- 
supposes the  fall  *  of  the  dynasty  (cf.  v.  n)  and  the 
advent  of  the  exile  (ix.  14,  15).2 

Amos  must  have  had  predecessors,  ii.  n  ;    but 

1  Even  if  only  the  decay  were  pre-supposed,  the  words  would 
be  quite  inapplicable  to  the  long  and  prosperous  reign  of  Uzziah, 
i.   1. 

2  The  authenticity  of  a  few  other  passages,  cf.  viii.  n,  12,  has 
been  doubted  for  reasons  that  are  not  always  convincing.  Most 
doubt  attaches  to  the  great  doxologies,  iv.  13,  v.  8,  9,  ix.  5,  6. 
The  utmost  that  can  be  said  with  safety  is  that  these  passages 
are  in  no  case  necessary  to  the  context,  while  v.  8,  9  is  a  distinct 
interruption,  but  that  the  conception  of  God  suggested  by  them, 
as  omnipotent  and  omnipresent,  is  not  at  all  beyond  the  theolo- 
gical reach  of  Amos. 


i g2    Old  Testament  Introduction 

even  so  the  range  and  boldness  of  his  thought  are 
astonishing.  History,  reflection  and  revelation  have 
convinced  him  that  Israel  has  had  unique  religious 
privileges,  iii.  2  ;  nevertheless  she  stands  under  the 
moral  laws  by  which  all  the  world  is  bound,  and 
which  even  the  heathen  acknowledge,  iii.  9 — Amos 
has  nothing  to  say  of  any  written  law  specially 
given  to  Israel — and  by  these  laws  she  will  be  con- 
demned to  destruction,  if  she  is  unfaithful,  just  as 
surely  as  the  Philistines  and  Phoenicians  (i.).  In- 
deed, so  sternly  impartial  is  Amos  that  he  at  times 
even  seems  to  challenge  the  prerogative  of  Israel. 
The  Philistines  and  Arameans  had  their  God-guided 
exodus  no  less  than  Israel,  and  she  is  no  more  to 
Jehovah  than  the  swarthy  peoples  of  Africa,  ix.  7. 
The  universal  and  inexorable  claims  of  the  moral 
law  have  never  had  a  more  relentless  exponent  than 
Amos  ;  and,  though  there  is  in  him  a  soul  of  pity, 
vii.  2,  5,  it  was  his  peculiar  task,  not  to  proclaim  the 
divine  love,  but  to  plead  for  social  justice.  God  is 
just  and  man  must  be  so  too.  Perhaps  Amos's 
message  is  all  the  more  daring  and  refreshing  that  he 
was  not  a  professional  prophet,  vii.  14.  His  culture, 
though  not  formal,  is  of  the  profoundest.  He  is 
familiar  with  distant  peoples,  ix.  7,  he  has  thought 
long  and  deeply  about  the  past,  he  knows  the  in- 
fluences that  are  moulding  the  present.  The  religion 
for  which  he  pleaded  was  not  a  thing  of  rites  and 
ceremonies,  but  an  ideal  of  social  justice — a  justice 
which  would  not  be  checked  at  every  step  by  avarice 
and  cruelty,  but  would  flow  on  and  on  like  the  waves 
of  the  sea,  v.  24. 


Obadiah 

The  book  of  Obadiah— shortest  of  all  the  prophetic 
books — is  occupied,  in  the  main,  as  the  superscrip- 
tion suggests,  with  the  fate  of  Edom.  Her  people 
have  been  humbled,  the  high  and  rocky  fastnesses  in 
which  they  trusted  have  not  been  able  to  save  them. 
Neighbouring  Arab  tribes  have  successfully  attacked 
them  and  driven  them  from  their  home  (vv.  1-7 J.1 
This  is  the  divine  penalty  for  their  cruel  and  un- 
brotherly  treatment  of  the  Jews  after  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem,  vv.  10-14,  I5^-  Nay,  a  day  of  divine 
vengeance  is  coming  upon  all  the  heathen,  when 
Judah  will  utterly  destroy  Edom,  and  once  again 
possess  all  the  land,  north,  south,  east  and  west, 
that  was  formerly  theirs,  and  the  kingdom  shall 
be  Jehovah's,  vv.  15a,  16-21. 

The  date  of  the  prophecy  seems  to  be  fixed  by  the 
unmistakable  allusion  in  vv.  n-14  to  the  capture  of 
Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadrezzar  in  586  B.C. — an 
occasion  on  which  the  Edomites  abetted  the  Baby- 
lonians (Ezek.  xxxv.  ;  Lam.  iv.  21  ff .  ;  Ps.  cxxxvii. 
7).  But  the  case  is  gravely  complicated  by  the 
similarity,  which  is  much  too  close  to  be  accidental, 

1  Verses  8,  9,  which  imply  that  the  catastrophe  is  yet  to  come, 
and  speak  of  Edom  in  the  third  person,  appear  to  be  later  than 
the  context.  For  "  thyZmighty  men,  O^Teman,"  in  v.  9a,  prob- 
ably we  should  read,  "  the^mighty  men  of  Teman." 

193  !3 


ig4   Old  Testament  Introduction 

between  Obadiah  1-9  and  the  oracle  against  Edom 
in  Jeremiah,  xlix.  7-22  (especially  vv.  14-16,  9,  10, 
7,  22) ;  and,  though  in  one  or  two  places  the  text  of 
Obadiah  is  superior  (cf.  Ob.  2,  3  ;  Jer.  xlix.  15,  16), 
the  resemblance  is  such  that  the  passage  in  Jeremiah 
must  be  dependent  on  Obadiah.  Now  the  date 
assigned  to  Jeremiah's  oracle  is  605  B.C.  (xlvi.  2)  ; 
but  obviously  Jeremiah  could  not  adopt  in  605  a 
prophecy  which  was  not  written  till  586.  A  way  out 
of  this  difficulty  has  usually  been  sought  in  the 
assumption  that  both  prophets  have  made  use,  in 
different  ways,  of  an  older  oracle  against  Edom,  vv. 
1-9  or  10.  But  there  is  no  adequate  reason  for 
separating  vv.  11-14,  which  must  refer  to  the  cap- 
ture of  Jerusalem  in  586,  from  vv.  1-7.  The  assump- 
tion just  mentioned  becomes  quite  unnecessary  when 
we  remember  that  Jeremiah  xlix.  7-22,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  is  probably,  at  least  in  its  present  form, 
from  a  period  very  much  later  than  Jeremiah.  The 
priority  therefore  rests  with  Obadiah,  whose  pro- 
phecy has  been  utilized  in  Jeremiah  xlix. 

In  vv,  1-7  the  catastrophe  is  not  predicted  for  Edom, 
it  has  already  fallen  :  it  was  probably  an  earlier 
stage  of  the  Bedawin  assaults,  whose  desolating 
effect  upon  Edom  is  described  in  Malachi  i.  1-5,  and 
must  therefore  be  relegated  to  a  period  about  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century.  We  are  probably  not 
far  from  the  truth  in  dating  Obadiah  1-14  about 
500  B.C.  The  memory  of  Edom's  cruelty  would 
still  rankle  a  generation  after  the  return. 

But  in  vv.  15a,  16-21  the  literary  and  religious 
colouring  is  different ;  vv.  1-14  is  marked  by  a  cer- 
tain graphic  vigour,  vv.  15-21  is  diffuse.     The  judg- 


Obadiah  195 

ment  of  Edom  in  vv.  1-14  is  in  vv.  15-21  made  only 
an  episode  in  a  great  world-judgment.  Above  all, 
in  v.  1  the  nations  are  to  execute  this  judgment,  in 
v.  15  they  are  to  be  the  victims  of  it.  Further,  vv. 
19,  20  seem  to  imply  an  extensive  dispersion  of  the 
Jews.  Probably,  therefore,  this  passage  expresses 
the  bold  eschatological  hopes  of  a  later  time,  when 
Judah  was  to  be  finally  redeemed  and  the  heathen 
annihilated.  The  section  may  be  later  than  the 
oracle  in  Jeremiah  xlix,  as  no  use  is  made  of  it  there. 


Jonah 


The  book  of  Jonah  is,  in  some  ways,  the  greatest  in 
the  Old  Testament  :  there  is  no  other  which  so 
bravely  claims  the  whole  world  for  the  love  of  God, 
or  presents  its  noble  lessons  with  so  winning  or  subtle 
an  art.  Jonah,  a  Hebrew  prophet,  is  divinely  com- 
manded to  preach  to  Nineveh,  the  capital  of  the 
great  Assyrian  empire  of  his  day.  To  escape  the 
unwelcome  task  of  preaching  to  a  heathen  people, 
he  takes  ship  for  the  distant  west,  only  to  be  over- 
taken by  a  storm,  and  thrown  into  the  sea,  when,  by 
the  lot,  it  is  discovered  that  he  is  the  cause  of  the 
storm.  He  is  immediately  swallowed  by  a  fish,  in 
the  belly  of  which  he  remains  three  days  and  nights 
(i.).  Then  follows  a  prayer  :  after  which  the  pro- 
phet is  thrown  up  by  the  fish  upon  the  land  (ii.). 
This  time  he  obeys  the  divine  command,  and  his 
preaching  is  followed  by  a  general  repentance,  which 
causes  God  to  spare  the  wicked  city  (iii.),  whereat 
Jonah  is  greatly  displeased  ;  but,  by  a  new  and 
miraculous  experience,  he  is  taught  the  shame  and 
folly  of  his  anger,  and  the  infinite  greatness  of  the 
divine*love  (iv.). 

On  the  face  of  it,  the  narrative  is  not  meant  /to  be 
strictly  historical.  Its  place  among  the  prophetic 
books  shows  that  its  importance  lies,  not  in  its  facts, 

1W 


Jonah 


197 


but  in  the  truths  for  which  it  pleads.     Much  detail 
is  wanting  which  we  should  expect  to  find  were  the 
narrative  pure  history,  e.g.  the  name  of  the  Assyrian 
king,  the  results  of  Jonah's  mission,  etc.     Other  cir- 
cumstances stamp  it  as  unhistorical :    considering 
the  poor  success  the  Hebrew  prophets  had  in  their 
own  land,  such  a  wholesale  conversion  of  a  foreign 
city,  even  if  such  a  visit  as  Jonah's  were  likely,  must 
be  regarded  as  extremely  improbable,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  impossibility  of  the  animals  fasting  and  wear- 
ing sackcloth,  hi.  7,  8.     The  miraculous  fish  and  the 
miraculous  tree  which  grew  up  in  a  single  night  for- 
bid us  to  look  for  history  in  the  book.     Nineveh's 
fame  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  hi.  3  ;  the  book  is  written 
after,  probably  long  after,  its  fall  in  606  B.C.     The 
lateness  of  the  book  and  its  remoteness  from  the 
events  it  records,  are  proved  in  other  ways.     Its  lan- 
guage has  the  Aramaic  flavour  of  the  later  books, 
and  such  a  phrase  as  "  the  God  of  heaven,"  i.  9,  only 
occurs  in  post-exilic  literature.     It  contains  several 
reminiscences  of  late  books  *  (e.g.  Joel  ?),  and  its 
ideas  are  most  intelligible  as  the  product  of  post- 
exilic  times,  especially  if  it  be  regarded  as  a  protest 
against    a    loveless   and   narrow-hearted    type    of 

1  There  are  many  points  of  contact  between  the  prayer  in 
Jonah  ii.  and  the  Psalter  ;  but  the  prayer  must  be  later  than  the 
original  book  of  Jonah.  It  is  in  reality  not  a  prayer  but  a  psalm 
of  gratitude,  and  is  quite  inappropriate  to  Jonah's  horrible 
situation  in  the  belly  of  the  fish.  Even  if  the  metaphors  from 
the  sea  were  interpreted  literally,  they  would  not  be  applicable 
to  Jonah's  case  ;  e.g.,  "  the  weeds  were  wrapped  about  my 
head,"  v.  5.  The  Psalm,  which  is  partly,  but  not  altogether,  a 
compilation,  must  have  been  inserted  here  by  a  later  hand,  hardly 
by  the  author  of  the  book,  who  would  have  noticed  the  impro- 
priety of  it. 


ig8    Old   Testament  Introduction 

Judaism.  All  the  conditions  point  to  a  date  not 
much,  if  at  all,  earlier  than  300  B.C. 

Jonah  is  himself  a  historical  character  ;  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  prophet,  in  whose  time 
Nineveh  is  standing,  i.  2,  is  contemporary  with  the 
Jonah  mentioned  in  2  Kings  xiv.  25  as  living  in  the 
reign  of  Jeroboam  II,  and  prophesying  the  restora- 
tion of  Israel  to  its  ancient  boundaries.  It  may  have 
been  as  the  representative  of  an  intense  and  exclusive 
nationalism  that  he  was  chosen  as  the  hero  of  this 
book.  Here  and  there  the  story  trenches  on  Baby- 
lonian and  Greek  legend,  but  the  spirit,  if  not  also 
the  form,  is  altogether  the  author's  own. 

The  book  abounds  in  religious  suggestion  ;  even 
its  incidental  touches  are  illuminating.  It  suggests 
that  man  cannot  escape  his  divinely  appointed  de- 
stiny, and  that  God's  will  must  be  done.  It  suggests 
that  prophecy  is  conditional ;  a  threatened  destruc- 
tion can  be  averted  by  repentance.  It  is  peculiarly 
interesting  to  find  so  generous  an  attitude  towards  the 
religious  susceptibilities  and  capacities  of  foreigners  : 
in  this  we  are  reminded  of  Jesus'  parable  of  the  good 
Samaritan.  The  foreign  sailors  cry,  in  their  per- 
plexity, to  their  gods,  and  end  by  acknowledging  the 
God  of  Israel ;  the  people  of  Nineveh  repent  at  the 
prophet's  preaching.  All  this  forms  a  splendid  foil 
to  the  smallness  and  obstinacy  of  Jonah.  With  his 
mean  views  of  God,  he  would  not  only  exclude  the 
heathen  from  the  divine  mercy,  but  rejoice  in  their 
destruction.  In  this  the  prophet  is  typical  of  later 
Judaism,  with  its  longing  for  the  annihilation  of  the 
nations  as  the  obverse  of  the  redemption  of  Zion. 
This  attitude  was  greatly  encouraged  by  the  rigor- 


Jonah 


199 


ous  legislation  of  Ezra  ;  and  Jonah,  like  Ruth,  may 
be  a  protest  against  it,  or  at  least  against  the  bigotry 
which  it  engendered.  If  Israel  is,  in  any  sense,  an 
elect  people,  she  is  but  elected  to  carry  the  message 
of  repentance  to  the  heathen  ;  and  the  book  of  Jonah 
is  indirectly,  though  not  perhaps  in  the  intention  of 
the  author,  a  plea  for  foreign  missions. 

The  greatest  lesson  of  the  book  is  skilfully  reserved 
to  the  end,  iv.  2,  10,  11.  It  is  that  God  is  patient 
and  merciful,  that  He  loves  all  the  world  which  He 
created,  that  His  love  stretches  not  only  beyond  the 
Jews  and  away  to  distant  Nineveh,  but  even  down 
to  the  animal  creation.  He  hears  the  p*ayer  of  the 
foreign  sailors,  He  delights  in  the  repentance  of 
Nineveh,  He  cares  for  the  cattle,  iv.  11.  This  book 
is  the  Old  Testament  counterpart  to  "  God  so  loved 
the  world." 


Micah 

Micah  must  have  been  a  very  striking  personality. 
Like  Amos,  he  was  a  native  of  the  country — some- 
where in  the  neighbourhood  of  Gath  ;  and  he  de- 
nounces with  fiery  earnestness  the  sins  of  the  capital 
cities,  Samaria  in  the  northern  kingdom,  and  Jeru- 
salem in  the  southern.  To  him  these  cities  seem  to 
incarnate  the  sins  of  their  respective  kingdoms,  i.  5  ; 
and  for  both  ruin  and  desolation  are  predicted,  i.  6, 
hi.  12.  Micah  expresses  with  peculiar  distinctness 
the  sense  of  his  inspiration  and  the  object  for  which 
it  is  given  ;  he  is  conscious  of  being  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  Jehovah  to  declare  unto  Jacob  his  trans- 
gression and  unto  Israel  his  sin,  iii.  8.  In  his  ring- 
ing sincerity,  he  must  have  formed  a  strange  contrast 
to  the  prophets  who  regulated  their  message  by  their 
income,  iii.  5,  and  preached  to  a  people  whose  con- 
science was  slumbering,  a  welcome  gospel  of  mater- 
ialism, ii.  11. 

The  words  of  Micah  must  have  burned  themselves 
into  the  memories,  if  not  the  consciences,  of  his 
generation  ;  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  after — 
though  doubtless  by  this  time  the  prophecy  was 
written — we  find  his  unfulfilled  prediction  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  alluded  to  by  the  elders 
who  pled  for  the  life  of  Jeremiah,  xxvi.  I7ff.  It 
is  certain  from  this  reference  that  he  prophesied 

200 


Micah  20 1 

during  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  ;  whether  also  under 
Jotham  and  Ahaz  (Mic.  i.  1)  is  not  so  certain,  and 
depends  upon  whether  his  prophecy  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  Samaria,  i.  6,  was  made  before,  or  as  seems 
equally  possible,  after  the  capture  of  that  city  in 
721  B.C.  At  any  rate  his  message  was  addressed  to 
Judah,  and  must  have  fallen  (at  least  i  -hi.)  before 
701  B.C. — the  year  in  which  the  city  was  saved  be- 
yond all  expectation  from  an  attack  by  Sennacherib, 
ill.  12. 

Micah  begins  by  describing  the  coming  of  Jehovah. 
He  is  coming  in  judgment  upon  Samaria  and  Jeru- 
salem, the  wicked  capitals  of  wicked  kingdoms,  i. 
1-9  ;  and  in  the  difficult  verses,  i.  10-16,  the  devas- 
tating march  of  the  enemy  through  Judah  is  allus- 
ively described.  The  judgment  is  thoroughly 
justified — it  is  due  to  the  violent  and  grasping  spirit 
of  the  wealthy,  who  do  not  scruple  to  crush  the  poor 
and  defenceless,  ii.  1-11.  The  prophet  then  1  brings 
his  charge  in  detail  against  the  leaders  of  the  people 
— officials,  judges,  priests,  prophets — accuses  them 
of  being  mercenary  and  time-serving,  and  ends  with 
the  terrible  threat  that  the  holy  hill  will  one  day  be 
made  a  desolation  (hi.). 

These  chapters  are  assigned  almost  unanimously 
to  Micah.  But  serious  critical  difficulties  are  raised 
in  connection  with  the  rest  of  the  book.  Chs.  iv. 
and  v.  constitute  a  section  by  themselves,  and  may 
be  considered  separately.  Their  general  theme  is 
the  certainty  of  salvation,  but  it  is  quite  clear  that 

1  Ch.  ii.  12,  13,  which  interrupt  the  stern  address  of  the 
prophet,  ii.  1 1 ,  iii.  i  with  a  promise  which  implies  that  Israel  is 
scattered,  are  probably  exilic  ;  they  can  hardly  be  Micah's. 


202    Old  Testament   Introduction 

they  do  not  form  an  original  unity  ;  iv.  1-4,  e.g.,  with 
its  generous  attitude  to  the  foreign  nations,  is  incon- 
sistent with  iv.  11-13,  which  predicts  their  destruc- 
tion. Again,  iv.  10  describes  a  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
which  is  to  issue  in  exile,  iv.  n-13,  a  siege  which  is 
to  end  in  the  annihilation  of  the  besiegers.  Similar 
difficulties  characterize  ch.  v  ;  in  vv.  7-9,  15  the 
enemies  are  to  be  destroyed. 

No  consecutive  outline  of  the  chapters  is  possible 
in  their  present  disconnected  form.  Ch.  iv.  1-5  de- 
scribes the  Messianic  age,  in  which  the  nations  will 
come  to  Jerusalem  to  have  their  cases  peacefully 
arbitrated,  iv.  6-8  promise  that  those  scattered  (in 
exile)  will  be  gathered  again,  and  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  restored.  Siege  of  Jerusalem,  exile,  and  re- 
demption, iv.  9,  10.  Unsuccessful  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem and  annihilation  of  the  enemy,  iv.  11-13. 
Another  siege  :  Israel's  suffering,  v.  1.  Promise  of 
a  victorious  king,  v.  2-4.  Judah's  victory  over 
Assyria,  v.  5,  6  and  all  her  enemies,  v.  7-9.  All  the 
apparatus  of  war  and  idolatry  will  be  removed  from 
the  land,  v.  10-14,  and  vengeance  taken  on  the 
enemy,  v.  15. 

The  summary  shows  how  disjointed  the  chapters 
are.  They  may  not  impossibly  contain  reminis- 
cences or  even  utterances  of  Micah  ;  e.g.  the  predic- 
tion of  the  fatal  siege,  v.  1,  or  of  the  overthrow  of 
idolatry,  v.  10-14.  But  many  elements  could  not 
possibly  be  Micah's  :  e.g.  iv.  8  implies  that  the  king- 
dom of  Judah  is  already  a  thing  of  the  past.  iv.  6 
postulates  the  exile,1  and  the  prophecy  of  exile  to 

1  This  might  conceivably,  though  not  very  naturally,  refer  to 
the  deportation  of  Israel  in  721. 


Micah  203 

Babylon,  iv.  10,  would  be  unnatural  in  Micah's  time, 
when  Assyria  was  the  dominant  power.1  Again  it 
is  exceedingly  improbable  that  Micah  would  have 
blunted  the  edge  of  his  terrible  threat  in  iii.  12  by 
following  it  up  with  so  brilliant  a  promise  as  iv.  1-4, 
especially  as  not  a  word  is  said  about  the  need  of 
repentance.  The  story  in  Jeremiah  xxvi.  lyfi.  raises 
the  legitimate  doubt  whether  Micah's  prophecy, 
which  was  certainly  one  of  threatening,  iii.  12,  also 
contained  elements  of  promise.  On  the  whole  it 
seems  best  to  assume  that  the  fine  picture  of  the 
glory  and  importance  of  Zion  in  the  latter  days,  iv. 
1-4,  was  set  by  some  later  writer  as  a  foil  to  the  stern 
threat  with  which  the  original  prophecy  closed,  cf. 
Isaiah  ii.  1-4.  Chs.  iv.  and  v.  may  be  regarded  as  a 
collection  of  prophecies  emphasizing  the  certainty 
of  salvation  and  intended  to  supplement  i.-iii. 

Chs.  vi.  and  vii.  take  us  again  into  another  atmo- 
sphere, more  like  Micah's  own.  The  people,  who 
attempt  to  defend  themselves  against  Jehovah's 
charge  of  ingratitude  on  the  plea  that  they  are  ignor- 
ant of  His  demands,  are  reminded  that  those  de- 
mands are  ancient  and  simple  :  justice,  love  as 
between  man  and  man,  and  a  humble  walk  with 
God,  vi.  1-8.  But  instead,  dishonesty  and  injustice 
are  rampant  everywhere,  and  the  judgment  of  God 
is  inevitable,  vi.  9-16.  The  prophet  laments  the 
utter  and  universal  degradation  of  the  people,  which 
has  corrupted  even  the  intimacies  of  family  life,  vii. 
1-6.     In  the  rest  of  the  chapter  the  blow  predicted 

1  Some  retain  iv.  9,  10  for  Micah,  and  assume  either  that  the 
Babylon  clause  is  a  later  interpolation,  or  that  Babylon  has 
displaced  another  proper  name. 


204   Old  Testament   Introduction 

has  already  fallen  ;  in  their  sorrow  the  people  await 
the  fulfilment  of  Jehovah's  purpose  in  patience  and 
faith,  pray  to  Him  to  restore  the  land  which  once 
was  theirs  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  thus  to 
compel  from  the  heathen  an  acknowledgment  of  His 
power.  He  is  the  incomparable  God  who  can  forgive 
and  restore,  vii.  7-20. 

The  accusations  and  laments  of  these  two  chapters 
come  very  strangely  after  the  repeated  promises  of 
chs.  iv.  and  v.  ;  and  if  the  whole  book  had  been 
by  Micah,  it  is  hardly  possible  that  this  order  should 
have  been  original.  Probably  these  chapters  were 
appended  to  Micah's  book  because  of  several  fea- 
tures which  they  have  in  common  with  i  -hi.  : 
notice,  e.g.,  the  prominence  of  the  word  "  hear,"  i.  2, 
iii.  1,  9,  vi.  1,  9.  Most  scholars  agree  with  Ewald  in 
supposing  that  these  chapters — at  any  rate  vi.  1- 
vii.  6 — come  from  the  reign  of  Manasseh.  The  situ- 
ation is  that  of  i.-iii.,  only  aggravated  :  the  reference 
to  Ahab,  vi.  16,  with  whom  Manasseh  is  compared 
in  2  Kings  xxi.  3,  points  in  the  same  direction.  Even 
if  written  in  this  reign,  Micah  may  still  have  been  the 
author  ;  but  the  general  manner  of  the  chapters  and 
the  individuality  they  reveal  appear  to  be  different 
from  his.  But,  considering  their  noble  insistence 
upon  the  moral  elements  in  religion  (esp.  vi.  6-8) 
they  are,  if  not  his,  yet  not  inappropriately  appended 
to  his  book.  The  concluding  section,  however,  vii. 
7-20,  is  almost  certainly  post-exilic.  The  punish- 
ment has  come,  therefore  the  exile  is  the  earliest 
possible  date.  But  there  are  exiles  not  only  in 
Babylon,  but  scattered  far  and  wide  throughout  the 
world,  vii.  12,  and  there  is  the  expectation  that  the 


Micah  205 


walls  of  Jerusalem  will  be  rebuilt,  vii.  11.  As  this 
took  place  under  Nehemiah,  the  section  will  fall  be- 
fore his  time  (500-450  B.C.).  This  passage  of  pro- 
mise and  consolation  is  a  foil  to  vi.  i-vii.  6,  intended 
to  sustain  the  same  relation  to  that  section  as  iv.,  v. 
to  i.-iii. 

Thus  many  hands  appear  to  have  contributed  to 
the  little  book  of  Micah,  and  the  voices  of  two  or 
three  centuries  may  be  heard  in  it  :  earlier  words  of 
threatening  and  judgment  are  answered  by  later 
words  of  hope  and  consolation.  But  wherever  else 
the  true  Micah  is  to  be  found — and  his  spirit  at  any 
rate  is  certainly  in  vi.  6-8 — he  is  undoubtedly  pre- 
sent in  i.-iii.  It  is  a  peculiar  piece  of  good  fortune 
that  we  should  possess  the  words  of  two  contempor- 
ary prophets  who  differed  so  strikingly  as  Micah  the 
peasant  and  Isaiah  the  statesman.  Unlike  Isaiah, 
Micah  has  nothing  to  say  about  foreign  politics  and 
their  bearing  upon  religion  ;  he  confines  himself 
severely  to  its  moral  aspects,  and  like  Amos,  that 
other  prophet  of  the  country,  hurls  his  accusations 
and  makes  his  high  ethical  demands,  with  an  almost 
fierce  power,  hi.  2,  3.  His  prophecy  justifies  his 
claim  to  speak  in  the  power  and  inspiration  of  his 
God,  hi.  8. 


Nahum 

Poetically  the  little  book  of  Nahum  is  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  Old  Testament.  Its  descriptions  are 
vivid  and  impetuous  :  they  set  us  before  the  walls 
of  the  beleaguered  Nineveh,  and  show  us  the  war- 
chariots  of  her  enemies  darting  to  and  fro  like  light- 
ning, ii.  4,  the  prancing  steeds,  the  flashing  swords, 
the  glittering  spears,  hi.  2,  3.  The  poetry  glows  with 
passionate  joy  as  it  contemplates  the  ruin  of  cruel 
and  victorious  Assyria. 

In  the  opening  chapter,  i.,  ii.  2,  Jehovah  is  repre- 
sented as  coming  in  might  and  anger  to  take  ven- 
geance upon  the  enemies  of  Judah,  whom  He  is  to 
destroy  so  completely  that  not  a  trace  of  them  will 
be  left ;  and  Judah,  now  delivered,  will  be  free  to 
worship  her  God  in  peace.  In  ch.  ii.  the  enemy, 
through  whom  Assyria's  destruction  is  to  be  wrought, 
is  at  the  gates  of  Nineveh,  v.  8,  in  all  the  fierce  pomp 
of  war.  The  city  is  doomed,  the  defenders  flee, 
everywhere  is  desolation  and  ruin,  the  ravenous 
Assyrian  lion  is  slain  by  the  sword.  It  is  because  of 
her  sins  that  this  utter  ruin  is  coming  upon  her,  iii. 
1-7,  nor  need  she  think  to  escape  ;  for  the  populous 
and  all  but  impregnable  Thebes  (No-Amon)  was 
taken,  and  Nineveh's  fate  will  be  the  same.  Already 
the  people  are  quaking  for  fear,  some  of  the  strong- 

206 


Nahum  207 

holds  of  Assyria  are  taken  ;  it  is  time  to  prepare  to 
defend  the  capital.  But  there  is  no  hope,  her  doom 
is  already  sealed,  iii.  8-19. 

From  the  historical  implications  of  the  prophecy, 
which  belongs,  as  we  shall  see,  to  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, and  also  from  definite  allusions  (cf.  i.  15), 
Nahum  must  have  been  a  Judean  ;  and,  of  the  three 
traditions  concerning  Elkosh  his  birthplace,  which 
place  it  respectively  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Galilee,  and 
near  Eleutheropolis  in  southern  Judah,  the  last  must 
be  held  to  be  very  much  the  most  probable.  Within 
certain  limits,  the  date  is  easy  to  fix.  Ch.  iii.  8-10, 
which  are  historically  the  most  concrete  verses  in  the 
prophecy,  imply  the  capture  of  Thebes,  which  we  now 
know  to  have  been  taken  by  the  Assyrians  in  663 
B.C.  On  the  other  hand,  Nineveh  has  not  yet  fallen  : 
the  theme  of  the  prophecy  is  just  the  certainty  of  its 
fall.  It  was  taken  by  the  Medians  under  Kyaxares, 
leagued  with  Nabopolassar  of  Babylon  in  606  b.c'. 
The  prophecy  therefore  falls  between  663  and  606. 

The  fixing  of  the  precise  date  depends  on  two  con- 
siderations :  (1)  whether  the  allusion  to  Thebes  in 
iii.  8-10  implies  that  its  capture  was  very  recent,  and 
(2)  whether  we  must  suppose  that  the  prophecy  was 
inspired  by  a  definite  historical  situation.  It  is 
usually  felt  that  the  reference  to  Thebes  implies  that 
the  memory  of  its  capture  is  fresh,  and  that  the  pro- 
phecy must  stand  very  near  it— not  later  perhaps 
than  650  ;  and  just  about  this  time  there  was  a 
Babylonian  rebellion  against  Assyria.  This  date 
must  be  regarded  as  by  no  means  impossible.  On 
the  whole,  however,  a  later  date  appears  to  be  dis- 
tinctly more  probable.    The  last  few'verses,  iii.  i2f., 


208    Old  Testament  Introduction 

i8f.,  imply  the  thorough  weakness,  disorganization 
and  impending  dissolution  of  the  Assyrian  empire, 
and  so  early  a  date  as  650  hardly  meets  the  case. 
We  must  apparently  come  down  to  the  time  when 
the  fate  of  Nineveh  was  obviously  inevitable  and  her 
conqueror  was  on  the  way,  ii.  1.  Probably  Marti  is 
not  far  from  the  truth  in  suggesting  610  B.C.  The 
reference  to  Thebes  is  intelligible  even  at  this  later 
date,  when  we  remember  that  the  capture  of  so 
strong  a  city,  already  famous  in  Homer's  time, 
must  have  left  an  indelible  impression  on  the  mind 
of  Western  Asia.  It  is  nod  oubt  abstractly  possible 
that  the  prophecy  is  not  intimately  connected  with 
any  historical  situation,  and  therefore  might  be  much 
earlier  ;  but  to  say  nothing  of  the  concreteness  of 
the  detail,  such  a  supposition  would  be  altogether 
contrary  to  the  analogy  of  Hebrew  prophecy.  When 
Jehovah  reveals  His  secret  to  the  prophets,  it  is  be- 
cause He  is  about  to  do  something  (Amos  iii.  7). 

The  concreteness  of  detail  just  alluded  to  is  charac- 
teristic only  of  the  second  and  third  chapters.  Ch.  i., 
however,  is  confessedly  vague,  and  moves  for  the 
most  part  along  the  familiar  lines  of  theophanic  de- 
scriptions. It  is  not  plain  in  i.  (cf .  ii.  8)  who  are  the 
enemies  to  be  destroyed,  as  i.  1  is  probably  a  later 
addition.  Further,  as  far  as  v.  10  the  prophecy  is 
alphabetic  :  this  circumstance  has  given  rise  to  the 
view  that  i.,  ii.  2  originally  formed  a  complete  alpha- 
betic psalm  whose  second  half  has  either  been  worked 
over,  or  displaced  by  i.  11-15,  ii.  2,  the  object  of  the 
psalm  being  to  present  a  general  picture  of  the  judg- 
ment into  which  the  particular  doom  of  Nineveh  is 
fitted,  and  to  give  the  prophecy  a  theological  com- 


Nahum  209 

plexion  which  it  appeared  to  need.  The  acknow- 
ledged vagueness  of  the  chapter  and  the  demon- 
strably alphabetic  nature  of  at  least  part  of  it, 
certainly  render  its  authenticity  very  doubtful. 

The  theological  interest  of  Nahum  is  great.  It 
is  the  first  prophecy  dealing  exclusively  with  the 
enemies  of  Judah.  There  is  a  hint  of  the  sin  of 
Nineveh,  but  little  more  than  a  hint,  lii.  I,  4  ;  she  is 
the  enemy  and  oppressor  of  Judah,  and  that  is 
enough  to  justify  her  doom.  Whether  we  accept 
the  earlier  or  the  later  date  for  the  prophecy,  the 
reign  of  Manasseh  or  that  of  Josiah,  the  moral  con- 
dition of  Judah  herself  was  deplorable  enough,  and 
so  clear-eyed  a  prophet  as  Jeremiah  saw  that  her 
doom  was  inevitable.  Nahum  probably  represents 
the  sentiment  of  the  narrowly  patriotic  party,  which 
regarded  Jerusalem  as  inviolable,  and  Jehovah  as  a 
jealous  God  ready  to  take  vengeance  upon  the 
enemies  of  Judah. 


14 


Habakkuk 

The  precise  interpretation  of  the  book  of  Habak- 
kuk presents  unusual  difficulties  ;  but,  brief  and 
difficult  as  it  is,  it  is  clear  that  Habakkuk  was  a 
great  prophet,  of  earnest,  candid  soul,  and  he  has 
left  us  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  penetrating 
words  in  the  history  of  religion,  ii.  46.  The  pro- 
phecy may  be  placed  about  the  year  600  B.C.  The 
Assyrian  empire  had  fallen,  and  by  the  battle  of 
Carchemish  in  605  B.C.,  Babylonian  supremacy  was 
practically  established  over  Western  Asia.  Josiah's 
reformation,  whose  effects  had  been  transient  and 
superficial,  lay  more  than  twenty  years  behind. 
The  reckless  Jehoiakim  was  upon  the  throne  of 
Judah,  a  king  who  regarded  neither  the  claims  of 
justice  (Jer.  xxii.  13-19)  nor  the  words  of  the  pro- 
phet (Jer.  xxxvi.  23),  and  his  rebellion  drew  upon 
him  and  his  land  the  terrible  vengeance  of  Babylon, 
first  in  601  B.C.,  then  in  597. 

The  prophet  begins  by  asking  his  God  how  long 
the  lamentable  disorder  and  wrong  are  to  con- 
tinue, i.  1-4.  For  answer,  he  is  assured  that  the 
Chaldeans  are  to  be  raised  up  in  chastisement, 
who,  with  their  terrible  army,  will  mockingly 
defy  every  attempt  to  check  their  advance,  i.  5-1 1. 
But  in  i.   12-17  the  prophet   appears  to  be  con- 

210 


Habakkuk  211 

founded  by  their  impiety  ;  they  have  been  guilty 
of  barbarous  cruelty — how  can  Jehovah  reconcile 
this  with  His  own  holiness  and  purity  ?  The  pro- 
phet finds  the  answer  to  his  question  when  he 
climbs  his  tower  of  faith  ;  there  he  learns  that  the 
proud  shall  perish  and  the  righteous  live.  The 
solution  may  be  long  delayed,  but  faith  sees  and 
grasps  it  already  :  "  The  just  shall  live  by  his  faith- 
fulness," ii.  1-4.  Then  follows  a  series  of  woes, 
ii.  5-20,  which  expand  the  thought  of  ii.  4a — the 
sure  destruction  of  the  proud.  Woes  are  denounced 
upon  the  cruel  rapacity  of  the  conquerors,  their 
unjust  accumulation  of  treasure,  their  futile  ambi- 
tions, their  unfeeling  treatment  of  the  land,  beasts 
and  people,  and  finally  their  idolatry.  In  contrast 
to  the  stupid  and  impotent  gods  worshipped  by 
the  oppressor  is  the  great  God  of  Israel,  whose 
temple  is  in  the  heavens,  and  before  whom  the  earth 
is  summoned  to  silence,  ii.  20.  For  He  is  on  His 
way  to  take  vengeance  upon  the  enemies  of  His 
people,  as  He  did  in  the  ancient  days  of  the  exodus, 
when  He  came  in  the  terrors  of  the  storm  and  over- 
threw the  Egyptians.  His  coming  is  described  in 
terms  of  older  theophanies  (Jud.  v.,  Deut.  xxxiii.)  ; 
and  this  "  prayer,"  as  it  is  called  in  the  super- 
scription, concludes  with  an  expression  of  unbounded 
confidence  and  joy  in  Jehovah,  even  when  all  cus- 
tomary and  visible  signs  of  His  love  fail  (hi.). 

Simple  and  coherent  as  this  sequence  seems  to 
be,  it  is,  in  reality,  on  closer  inspection,  very  per- 
plexing. Ch.  i.  1-4  reveals  a  picture  of  confusion 
within  Judah,  but  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether 
it  is  foreigners  who  are  oppressing  Judah  as  a  whole, 


212    Old  Testament   Introduction 

or  powerful  classes  within  Judah  itself  that  are 
oppressing  the  poor.  Perhaps  the  latter  is  the 
more  natural  interpretation.  In  that  case,  the 
Chaldeans  are  raised  up  to  chastise  the  native 
oppressor,  i.  5-1 1.  This  section,  however,  has 
fresh  difficulties  of  its  own  ;  vv.  5,  6  suggest  that  the 
Chaldeans  are  not  yet  known  to  be  a  formidable 
power,  they  are  only  about  to  be  raised  up,  v.  6,  and 
what  they  will  do  is  as  yet  incredible,  v.  5.  The 
minute  description  which  follows,  however,  looks 
as  if  their  military  appearance  and  methods  were 
thoroughly  familiar.  Assuming  that  i.  12-17  is 
the  continuation  of  i.  5-1 1 — and  the  descriptions  are 
very  similar — the  Chaldeans,  whose  coming  was 
the  answer  to  the  prophet's  prayer,  now  constitute 
a  fresh  problem  ;  they  swallow  up  those  who  are 
more  righteous  than  themselves,  v.  13,  i.e.  Judah. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  such  a  characterization  of 
Judah  sounds  strange  after  the  charge  levelled  at 
her  in  i.  1-4,  unless  we  assume  an  interval  of  time 
between  the  sections,  or  at  least  that  in  i.  12-17, 
Judah  is  regarded  as  relatively  righteous,  i.e.  in 
comparison  with  the  Chaldeans. 

The  situation  is  further  complicated  by  the  very 
close  resemblance  that  prevails  between  i.  1-4  and 
i.  12-17.  The  very  same  words  for  righteous  and 
wicked  occur  in  i.  13  as  in  i.  4  ;  do  they  or  do  they 
not  designate  the  same  persons  ?  If  they  do,  then, 
as  in  i.  12-17,  the  wicked  oppressor  is  almost  cer- 
tainly the  Chaldean  and  the  righteous  is  Judah,  and 
we  shall  have  to  interpret  the  confusion  pictured 
in  i.  2-4  as  due  to  the  Chaldean  suzerainty,  and 
perhaps  to  assign  the  section  to  a  period  after  the 


Habakkuk  213 

first  capture  of  Jerusalem  in  597  B.C.  In  that  case, 
as  it  is  obvious  that  the  Chaldeans  could  not  be 
raised  up  to  execute  divine  judgment  upon  them- 
selves, the  section,  i.  5-1 1,  would  have  to  be  re- 
garded as  an  independent  piece,  whether  Habak- 
kuk's  or  not,  announcing  the  rise  of  the  Chaldeans, 
and  not  inappropriately  placed  here,  considering 
that  the  sections  on  both  sides  of  it  have  the  Chal- 
deans for  their  theme.  On  the  other  hand,  however, 
it  may  be  urged  that  the  identification  of  the  right- 
eous and  wicked  in  i.  13  with  i.  4,  though  natural,1 
is  not  necessary  ;  and  by  denying  it  the  prophecy 
becomes  distinctly  more  coherent.  The  wrong 
done  by  Judah,  i.  1-4,  is  avenged  by  the  coming 
of  the  Chaldeans,  i.  5-1 1  ;  they,  however,  having 
overstepped  the  limits  of  their  divine  commission, 
only  aggravate  the  prophet's  problem,  i.  12-17,  and 
he  finally  finds  the  solution  on  his  watch-tower, 
in  the  assurance  that  somehow,  despite  all  seem- 
ing delay,  the  purpose  of  God  is  hastening  on  to 
its  fulfilment,  and  that  the  moral  constitution  of 
the  world  is  such  as  to  spell  the  ultimate  ruin  of 
cruelty   and   pride   and   the   ultimate   triumph   of 

1  Some  scholars  feel  so  strongly  that  the  historical  background 
of  i.  1-4  and  i.  12-17  is  the  same,  that  they  regard  the  latter 
section  as  the  direct  continuation  of  the  former.  Budde,  fol- 
lowed by  Cornill,  ingeniously  supposes  that  the  oppressor  in 
these  two  sections  is  the  Assyrian  (about  615  B.C.),  and  it  is  this 
power  that  the  Chaldeans,  i.  5—1 1,  are  raised  up  to  chastise. 
These  scholars  put  i.  5-1 1  after  ii.  4  as  a  historical  amplification 
of  its  moral  and  more  indefinite  statement.  But  the  strength 
of  Habakkuk  rather  seems  to  lie  in  this,  that  he  abandons  the 
immediate  historical  solution,  i.  5,  and  is  content  with  the  moral 
one,  ii.  4,  though  no  doubt  he  believes  that  the  moral  solution 
will  realize  itself  in  history. 


214   Old   Testament   Introduction 

righteousness,  ii.  1-4.  His  faith  was  historically 
justified  by  the  fall  ^f  the  Babylonian  empire  in 
538  B.C. 

The  authenticity  *  of  some  of  the  woes  in  ch.  ii. 
may  be  contested,  e.g.  vv.  12-14,  which  appears  te 
be  a  partial  reproduction  of  Jer.  Ii.  58,  Isa.  xi.  9. 
It  is  very  improbable  that  ch.  hi.  is  Habakkuk's : 
it  is  not  even  certain  that  the  poem  is  a  unity. 
The  situation  in  vv.  17-19  (especially  v.  17)  seems 
different  from  that  in  the  rest  of  the  chapter  :  there 
an  enemy  was  feared,  here  rather  infertility.  Again 
the  general  temper  of  the  ode  is  hardly  that  of 
ii.  3,  4.  There  the  vision  was  to  be  delayed,  here 
the  interposition  seems  to  be  impatiently  awaited 
and  expected  soon.  If  "  thine  anointed  "  in  hi. 
13  refers  to  the  people — and  the  parallelism  makes 
this  almost  certain — then  the  days  of  the  monarchy 
are  over  and  the  poem  cannot  be  earlier  than  the 
exile.  Probably,  as  the  superscription,  subscrip- 
tion, and  threefold  Selah  suggest,  we  have  here  a 
post-exilic  psalm.  The  psalm,  however,  is  fittingly 
enough  associated  with  the  prophecy  of  Habakkuk. 
Its  belief  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine  pur- 
pose and  its  emphasis  on  a  faith  independent  of  the 
things  of  sight,  are  akin  in  spirit,  though  not  in 
form  to  ii.  4. 

Patience  and  faith  are  the  watch-words  of  Habak- 

1  Marti  explains  the  book  thus  :  (a)  i.  2-4,  12a,  13,  ii.  1-4,  a 
psalm,  belonging  to  the  fifth  or  perhaps  the  second  century, 
giving  the  divine  answer  to  the  plaint  that  judgment  is  delayed  ; 
(b)  i.  5-1 1,  12b,  14-17,  a  prophecy  about  605  B.C.  dealing  with  the 
effect  of  the  battle  of  Carchemish  ;  (c)  ii.  5-19,  the  woes  : 
about  540,  when  the  Chaldean  empire  is  nearing  its  end  ;  {d)  in., 
a  post-exilic  psalm. 


Habakkuk  215 

kuk,  ii.  3,  4.  There  was  a  time  when  he  had  ex- 
pected an  adequate  historical  solution  to  his  doubts 
in  his  own  day,  i.  5  ;  but,  as  he  contemplates  the  im- 
moral progress  of  the  Chaldeans,  he  recognizes  his 
difficulty  to  be  only  aggravated  by  this  solution, 
and  he  is  content  to  commit  the  future  to  God.  He 
is  comforted  and  strengthened  by  a  larger  vision  of 
the  divine  purpose  and  its  inevitable  triumph — if 
not  now,  then  hereafter.  "  Though  it  tarry,  wait 
for  it,  for  it  is  sure  to  come,  it  will  not  lag  behind." 
That  purpose  wills  the  triumph  of  justice,  and 
though  the  righteous  may  seem  to  perish,  in 
reality  he  lives,  and  shall  continue  to  live,  by  his 
faithfulness. 


Zephaniah 


If  the  Hezekiah  who  was  Zephaniah 's  great-great- 
grandfather, i.  i,  was,  as  is  probable,  the  king  of 
that  name,  then  Zephaniah  was  a  prince  as  well  as 
a  prophet,  and  this  may  lend  some  point  to  his 
denunciation  of  the  princes  who  imitated  foreign 
customs,  i.  8.  He  prophesied  in  the  reign  of  Josiah, 
i.  i,  and  the  fact  that  he  censures  not  the  king  but 
the  king's  children,  i.  8,  points  to  the  period  when 
Josiah  was  still  a  minor  (about  or  before  626  B.C.). 
With  this  coincides  his  description  of  the  moral  and 
religious  condition  of  Judah,  which  necessitates  a 
date  prior  to  the  reformation  in  621.  Idolatry, 
star-worship  and  impure  Jehovah-worship  are 
rampant,  i.  4,  5,  9.  The  rich  are  easy-going  and 
indifferent  to  religion,  supposing  that  God  will 
leave  the  world  to  itself,  i.  12.  The  people  of 
Jerusalem  are  incorrigible,  hi.  2,  reckless  of  the 
lessons  that  God  has  written  in  nature  and  history, 
iii.  5ff.  ;  their  leaders — princes,  prophets,  priests — 
are  immoral  or  incompetent.  The  prophecy  may  be 
placed  between  630  and  626,  and  the  prophet  must 
have  been  a  young  man. 

To  this  idolatrous  and  indifferent  people  he  an- 
nounces the  speedy  coming  of  the  day  of  Jehovah, 
whose  terrors  he  describes  with  a  certain  solemn 

216 


Zephaniah  217 

grandeur  (L).  The  judgment  is  practically  in- 
evitable, i.  18,  but  it  may  perhaps  yet  be  averted 
by  an  earnest  quest  of  Jehovah,  ii.  1-3.  That 
judgment  will  sweep  along  the  coast  through  the 
Philistine  country,  ii.  4-7,  and  on  to  Egypt,  and 
afterwards  turn  northwards  and  utterly  destroy 
Assyria  with  her  great  capital  Nineveh,  ii.  12-15. 
Again  the  prophet  turns  to  Jerusalem,  and  for  the 
sins  of  her  people  and  their  leaders  proclaims  a 
general  day  of  judgment,  from  which,  however, 
the  humble  will  be  saved,  iii.  1-13  (except  vv.  9, 10.). 
The  book  ends  with  a  fine  vision  of  the  latter 
days,  when  the  dispersed  of  Judah  will  be  restored 
to  their  own  land,  and  rejoice  in  the  omnipotent 
love  of  their  God,  iii.  14-20. 

The  prophecy  presents  a  very  impressive  picture 
of  the  day  of  Jehovah,  but  it  cannot  all  be  from  the 
pen  of  Zephaniah.  Besides  adopting  a  very  different 
attitude  towards  Jerusalem  from  the  rest  of  the 
prophecy,  iii.  14-20  clearly  presupposes  the  exile, 
v.  19,  towards  the  end  of  which  it  was  probably 
written.  Ch.  ii.  n,  iii.  9,  10,  containing  ideas  which 
are  hardly  earlier  than  Deutero-Isaiah,  are  also 
probably  exilic  or  post-exilic.  The  oracle  against 
Moab  and  Ammon,  ii.  8-10,  countries  which  lay  off 
the  line  of  the  Scythian  march  southwards  from 
Philistia,  v.  7,  to  Egypt,  v.  12,  are  for  linguistic, 
contextual,  and  other  reasons,  also  probably  late. 

Prophecy  has  practically  always  an  historical 
occasion,  and  the  thought  of  the  black  and  terrible 
day  of  Jehovah  was  no  doubt  suggested  to  Zepha- 
niah by  the  formidable  bands  of  roving  Scythians 
which  scoured  Western  Asia  about  this  time,  sweeping 


218   Old  Testament  Introduction 

all  before  them  (Hdt.  i.  105).  They  do  not  seem  to 
have  touched  Judah  ;  but  it  is  not  surprising  that 
men  like  Jeremiah  and  Zephaniah  should  have  re- 
garded them  as  divinely  ordained  ministers  of 
vengeance  upon  Jehovah's  degenerate  people. 


Haggai 


The  post-exilic  age  sharply  distinguished  itself 
from  the  pre-exilic  (Zech.  i.  4),  and  nowhere  is  the 
difference  more  obvious  than  in  prophecy.  Post- 
exilic  prophecy  has  little  of  the  literary  or  moral 
power  of  earlier  prophecy,  but  it  would  be  very  easy 
to  do  less  than  justice  to  Haggai.  His  prophecy 
is  very  short ;  into  two  chapters  is  condensed  a 
summary,  probably  not  even  in  his  own  words, 
of  no  less  than  four  addresses.  Meagre  as  they  may 
seem  to  us,  they  produced  a  great  effect  on  those 
who  heard  them. 

The  addresses  were  delivered  between  September 
and  December  in  the  year  520  B.C.  The  people 
were  suffering  from  a  drought,  and  in  the  first  ad- 
dress, i.  i-n,  Haggai  interprets  this  as  a  penalty  for 
their  indifference  to  religion — in  particular,  for  their 
neglect  to  build  the  temple.  The  effect  of  the 
appeal  was  that  three  weeks  afterwards  a  beginning 
was  made  upon  the  building,  i.  12-15.  The  people, 
however,  seem  to  be  discouraged  by  the  scantiness 
of  their  resources,  and  a  month  afterwards  Haggai 
has  to  appeal  to  them  again,  reminding  them  that, 
with  the  silver  and  the  gold,  which  are  His,  Jeho- 
vah will  soon  make  the  new  temple  more  glorious 
than  the  old,  ii.  1-9.    Two  months  later  the  pro- 

219 


220   Old  Testament   Introduction 

phet  again  reminds  them  that,  as  their  former  un- 
holy indifference  had  infected  all  their  life  with 
failure,  so  loyal  devotion  to  the  work  now  would 
ensure  success  and  blessing,  ii.  10-19  >  anc*  on  the 
same  day  Haggai  assures  Zerubbabel  a  unique 
place  in  the  Messianic  kingdom  which  is  soon  to  be 
ushered  in,  ii.  20-23. 

The  appeals  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah  were  suc- 
cessful (Ezra  v.  1,  vi.  14),  and  within  four  years  the 
temple  was  rebuilt  (Ezra  vi.  15).  It  was  now  the 
centre  of  national  life,  and  therefore  also  of  pro- 
phetic interest.  Haggai  was  probably  not  him- 
self a  priest,  but  in  so  short  a  prophecy  his  elaborate 
allusion  to  ritual  is  very  significant,  ii.  nff.  This 
prophecy,  like  pre-exilic  prophecy,  was  no  doubt 
conditioned  by  the  historical  situation.  The  allu- 
sion to  the  shaking  of  the  world  in  ii.  7,  22,  appears 
to  be  a  reflection  of  the  insurrections  which  broke 
out  all  over  the  Persian  empire  on  the  accession  of 
Darius  to  the  throne  in  521  B.C.  ;  and  probably  the 
Jews  were  encouraged  by  the  general  commotion 
to  make  a  bold  bid  for  the  re-establishment  of  an 
independent  national  life.  That  they  cherished  the 
ambition  of  being  once  more  a  political  as  well  as 
a  religious  force,  seems  to  be  suggested  by  the  fre- 
quency with  which  Haggai  links  the  name  of 
Zerubbabel,  of  the  royal  line  of  Judah,  with  that 
of  Joshua  the  high  priest ;  and,  in  particular,  by 
the  extraordinary  language  applied  to  him — in 
ii.  23  he  is  the  elect  of  Jehovah,  His  servant  and 
signet.  Clearly  he  is  to  be  king  in  the  Messianic 
kingdom  which  is  to  issue  out  of  the  convulsion  of 
the  world. 


Haggai  221 

It  cannot  be  safely  inferred  from  ii.  3  that  Haggai 
was  among  those  who  had  seen  the  temple  of  Solo- 
mon and  was  therefore  a  very  old  man.  Simple  as 
are  his  words,  his  faith  is  strong  and  his  hope  very 
bold.  Considering  the  meagre  resources  of  the 
post-exilic  community,  it  is  touching  to  note  the 
confidence  with  which  he  assures  the  people  that 
Jehovah  will  bring  together  the  treasures  of  the 
world  to  make  His  temple  glorious. 


Zechariah 

Chapters  i.-viii. 

Two  months  after  Haggai  had  delivered  his  first 
address  to  the  people  in  520  B.C.,  and  a  little  over  a 
month  after  the  building  of  the  temple  had  begun 
(Hag.  i.  15),  Zechariah  appeared  with  another 
message  of  encouragement.  How  much  it  was 
needed  we  see  from  the  popular  despondency  re- 
flected in  Hag.  ii.  3.  Jerusalem  is  still  disconsolate 
(Zech.  i.  17),  there  has  been  fasting  and  mourning, 
vii.  5,  the  city  is  without  walls,  ii.  5,  the  population 
scanty,  ii.  4,  and  most  of  the  people  are  middle-aged, 
few  old  or  young,  viii.  4,  5.  The  message  they  need 
is  one  of  consolation  and  encouragement,  and  that 
is  precisely  the  message  that  Zechariah  brings  : 
"  I  have  determined  in  these  days  to  do  good  to 
Jerusalem  and  to  the  house  of  Judah  ;  fear  not," 
viii.  15. 

The  message  of  Zechariah  comes  in  the  peculiar 
form  of  visions,  some  of  them  resting  apparently 
on  Babylonian  art,  and  not  always  easy  to  inter- 
pret. After  an  earnest  call  to  repentance,  i.  1-6, 
the  visions  begin,  i.  7-vi.  8.  In  the  first  vision, 
i.  7-17,  the  earth,  which  has-been  troubled,  is  at 
rest  ;  the  advent  of  the  Messianic  age  may  therefore 


Zechariah  223 

be  expected  soon.  The  divine  promise  is  given 
that  Jerusalem  shall  be  graciously  dealt  with  and 
the  temple  rebuilt.  The  second  is  a  vision,  i.  18-21, 
of  the  annihilation  of  the  heathen  world  repre- 
sented by  four  horns.  The  third  vision  (ii.) — that 
of  a  young  man  with  a  measuring- rod — announces 
that  Jerusalem  will  be  wide  and  populous,  the  exiles 
will  return  to  it,  and  Jehovah  will  make  His  abode 
there. 

These  first  three  visions  have  to  do,  in  the  main, 
with  the  city  and  the  people  ;  the  next  two  deal 
more  specifically  with  the  leaders  of  the  restored 
community  on  its  civil  and  religious  side,  Zerubba- 
bel  the  prince  and  Joshua  the  priest.  In  the  fourth 
vision  (hi.)  Joshua  is  accused  by  the  Adversary  and 
the  accuser  is  rebuked — symbolic  picture  of  the 
misery  of  the  community  and  its  imminent  redemp- 
tion. Joshua  is  to  have  full  charge  of  the  temple, 
and  he  and  his  priests  are  the  guarantee  that  the 
Branch,  i.e.  the  Messianic  king  (Jer.  xxiii.  5,  xxxiii. 
15),  no  doubt  Zerubbabel  (Zech,  hi.  8,  vi.  12  ;  Hag. 
ii.  23),  is  coming.  In  the  fifth  vision  (iv.)  *  the 
prophet  sees  a  lampstand  with  seven  lamps  and  an 
olive  tree  on  either  side,  the  trees  representing  the 
two  anointed  leaders,  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua,  en- 
joying the  divine  protection. 

The  next  two  visions  elaborate  the  promise  of 
hi.  9  :  "  I  will  remove  the  iniquity  of  that  land," — 
and  indicate  the  removal  of  all  that  taints  the  land 
of  Judah,  alike  sin  and  sinners.     The  flying  roll  of 

1  Except  vv.  6b-ioa,  which  appears  to  be  a  special  assurance, 
hardly  here  in  place,  that  Zerubbabel  would  finish  the  temple 
which  he  had  begun. 


224   Old  Testament   Introduction 

the  sixth  vision,  v.  1-4,  carries  the  curse  that  will 
fall  upon  thieves  and  perjurers ;  and  in  the  some- 
what grotesque  figure  of  the  seventh  vision,  v.  5- 
11,  Sin  is  personified  as  a  woman  and  borne  away 
in  a  closed  cask  by  two  women  with  wings  like 
storks,  to  the  land  of  Shinar,  i.e.  Babylon,  there  to 
work  upon  the  enemy  of  Judah  the  ruin  she  has 
worked  for  Judah  herself.  In  the  last  vision,  vi. 
1-8,  which  is  correlate  with  the  first — four  chariots 
issuing  from  between  two  mountains  of  brass — the 
divine  judgment  is  represented  as  being  executed 
upon  the  north  country,  i.e.  the  country  opposed  to 
God,  and  particularly  Babylonia. 

The  cumulative  effect  of  the  visions  is  very  great. 
All  that  hinders  the  coming  of  the  Messianic  days 
is  to  be  removed,  whether  it  be  the  great  alien 
world  powers  or  the  sinners  within  Jerusalem  itself. 
The  purified  city  will  be  blessed  with  prosperity  of 
every  kind,  and  over  her  civil  and  religious  affairs 
will  be  two  leaders,  who  enjoy  a  unique  measure  of 
the  divine  favour.  In  an  appendix  to  the  visions 
vi.  9-15,  Zechariah  is  divinely  commissioned  to 
make  a  crown  for  Zerubbabel  (or  for  him  and 
Joshua)  !  out  of  the  gold  and  silver  brought  by 

1  It  seems  practically  certain  that  the  original  prophecy  in 
v.  1 1  has  been  subsequently  modified,  doubtless  because  it  was 
not  fulfilled.  The  last  clause  of  v.  13 — "the  counsel  of  peace 
shall  be  between  them  both  " — shows  that  two  persons  have  just 
been  mentioned.  The  preceding  clause  must  therefore  be 
translated,  not  as  in  A.  V.  and  R.  V.,  "  and  he  shall  be  a  priest 
upon  his  throne,"  as  if  the  office  of  king  and  priest  were  to  be 
combined  in  a  single  person,  but  "  and  there  shall  be  "  (or,  as  Well- 
hausen  suggests,  "and  Joshua  shall  be  ")"a  priest  upon  his 
throne,"  (or  no  doubt  more  correctly,  with  the  Septuagint,  "  a 
priest  at  his  right  hand").     As  two  persons  are  involved,  and  the 


Zechariah 


225 


emissaries  of  the  Babylonian  Jews,  and  the  hope  is 
expressed  that  peace  will  prevail  between  the 
leaders — a  hope  through  which  we  may  perhaps 
read  a  growing  rivalry. 

The  concluding  chapters  of  the  prophecy  (vii., 
viii.),  delivered  two  years  later  than  the  rest  of  the 
book,  vii.  1,  are  occupied  with  the  ethical  condi- 
tions of  the  impending  Messianic  kingdom.  To  the 
question  whether  the  fast-days  which  commemorated 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  are  still  to  be  observed, 
Zechariah  answers  that  the  ancient  demands  of 
Jehovah  had  nothing  to  do  with  fasting,  but  with 
justice  and  mercy.  As  former  disobedience  had 
been  followed  by  a  divine  judgment,  so  would 
obedience  now  be  rewarded  with  blessing,  fast- 
days  would  be  turned  into  days  of  joy  and  gladness, 
and  the  blessing  would  be  so  great  that  representa- 
tives of  every  nation  would  be  attracted  to  Jerusa- 
lem, to  worship  the  God  of  the  Jews. 

In  Zechariah  even  more  than  in  Haggai  it  is  clear 

word  "  crowns  "  inw.  11  is  in  the  plural,  it  has  been  supposed  that 
the  verse  originally  read,  "  set  the  crowns  upon  the  head  of  Zerub- 
babel  and  upon  the  head  of  Joshua."  On  the  other  hand,  in  v.  14 
the  word  "  crown  "  must  be  read  in  the  singular,  and  should 
probably  also  be  so  read  in  v.  11  (though  even  the  plural  could 
refer  to  one  crown).  In  that  case,  if  there  be  but  one  crown,  who 
wears  it  ?  Undoubtedly  Zerubbabel :  he  is  the  Branch,  hi.  8, 
and  the  Branch  is  the  Davidic  king  (Jer.  xxiii.  5,  xxxiii.  15). 
The  building  of  the  temple  here  assigned  to  the  Branch,  vi.  12, 
is  elsewhere  expressly  assigned  to  Zerubbabel,  iv.  9.  It  is,  there- 
fore, he  who  is  crowned  :  in  other  words,  v.  II,  may  have  originally 
read,  "  set  it  upon  the  head  of  Zerubbabel."  Whether  we  accept 
this  solution  or  the  other,  it  seems  certain  that  the  original  pro- 
phecy contemplated  the  crowning  of  Zerubbabel.  As  the  hopes 
that  centred  upon  Zerubbabel  were  never  fulfilled,  the  passage 
was  subsequently  modified  to  its  present  form. 

15 


226   Old  Testament  Introduction 

that  prophecy  has  entered  upon  a  new  stage.1 
There  is  the  same  concentration  of  interest  upon  the 
temple,  the  same  faith  in  the  unique  importance  of 
Zerubbabel.  But  the  apocalyptic  element,  though 
not  quite  a  new  thing,  is  present  on  a  scale  alto- 
gether new  to  prophecy.  Again,  the  transcendence 
of  God  is  acutely  felt — the  visions  have  to  be  in- 
terpreted by  an  angel.  We  see,  too,  in  the  book  the 
rise  of  the  idea  of  Satan  (iii.)  and  of  the  conception 
of  sin  as  an  independent  force,  v.  5-1 1.  The  yearn- 
ing for  the  annihilation  of  the  kingdoms  opposed 
to  Judah,  i.  18-21,  has  a  fine  counterpart  in  the 
closing  vision,  viii.  22,  23,  of  the  nations  flocking  to 
Jerusalem  because  they  have  heard  that  God  is 
there.  The  book  is  of  great  historical  value,  afford- 
ing as  it  does  contemporary  evidence  of  the  droop- 
ing hopes  of  the  early  post-exilic  community,  and 
of  the  new  manner  in  which  this  disappointment 
was  met  by  prophecy.  But,  though  Zechariah's 
message  was  largely  concerned  with  the  building  of 
the  temple,  and  was  delivered  for  the  most  part 
in  terms  of  vision  and  apocalyptic,  the  ethical  ele- 
ments on  which  the  "  former  prophets  "  had  laid 
the  supreme  emphasis,  were  by  no  means  forgotten, 
viii.  16,  17. 

Chapters  ix.-xiv. 

Practically  all  the  distinctive  features  of  the  first 
eight    chapters    disappear    in    ix.-xiv.     The    style 

1  Zechariah  himself  is  conscious  of  the  distinction,  which  is 
more  than  a  temporal  one,  between  himself  and  the  pre-exilic 
prophets  :  notice  the  manner  of  his  allusion  to  the  "  former 
prophets,"  i.  4,  vii.  7,  12. 


Zechariah  227 

and  the  historical  presuppositions  are  altogether 
different.  There  are  two  new  superscriptions,  ix. 
i,  xii.  I,  but  there  is  no  reference  to  Zerubbabel, 
Joshua,  or  the  situation  of  their  time.  There  the 
immediate  problem  was  the  building  of  the  temple  ; 
here,  more  than  once,  Jerusalem  is  represented  as 
in  a  state  of  siege.  A  sketch  of  the  contents  will 
show  how  unlike  the  one  situation  is  to  the  other. 

The  general  theme  of  ix.  i-xi.  3  is  the  destruction 
of  the  world-powers  and  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Judgment  is  declared  at  the 
outset  upon  Damascus,  Phoenicia  and  Philistia, 
while  Jerusalem  is  to  enjoy  the  divine  protection 
and  to  be  the  seat  of  the  Messianic  King,  ix.  1-9. 
Greece,  the  great  enemy,  will  be  overcome  by 
Judah  and  Ephraim,  who  are  but  weapons  in 
Jehovah's  hand,  ix.  10-17.  Then  follows  1  a  pass- 
age in  which  "  the  shepherds  "  are  threatened  with 
a  dire  fate.  Judah  receives  a  promise  of  victory, 
and  Ephraim  is  assured  that  her  exiles  will  be 
gathered  and  brought  home  from  Egypt  and  Assyria 
to  Gilead  and  Lebanon  ;  the  cedars  of  Lebanon 
and  the  oaks  of  Bashan— types  perhaps  of  foreign 
rulers— will  be  laid  low,  x.  3-xi.  3. 

The  next  section  is  of  a  different  kind.  In  it  the 
prophet  is  divinely  commissioned  to  tend  the  flock 
which  has  been  neglected  and  impoverished  by 
other  shepherds.  To  this  end  he  takes  two  staves, 
named  Favour  and  Unity,  to  indicate  respectively 
the  favour  enjoyed  by  Judah  in  her  relations  with 

1  Ch.  x.  1,  2  appears  to  stand  by  itself.  It  is  an  injunction  to 
bring  the  request  for  rain  to  Jehovah  and  to  put  no  faith  in  tera- 
phim  and  diviners. 


228    Old  Testament   Introduction 

her  neighbours,  and  the  unity  subsisting  between 
her  and  Israel  (or  Jerusalem,  according  to  two 
codices)  ;  and  thus  invested  with  the  instruments 
of  the  pastoral  office  he  destroyed  three  shepherds 
in  a  short  time.  But  the  flock  grew  tired  of  him,  and, 
in  consequence  he  broke  the  staves,  i.e.  the  relations 
of  favour  and  unity  were  ruptured.  A  foolish  and 
careless  shepherd  is  then  raised  up,  wrho  abuses  the 
flock,  and  over  him  a  woe  is  pronounced,  xi.  4-17, 
more  minutely  defined  in  xiii.  7-9,  which  appears 
to  have  been  misplaced.  Jehovah  will  slay  the 
shepherd  and  scatter  the  sheep  ;  a  third  of  the  flock 
after  being  purified  by  fire  will  constitute  the  people 
of  Jehovah. 

The  next  section,  xii.  i-xiii.  6,  introduces  us  to 
a  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  the  heathen,  abetted  by 
Judah.  Suddenly,  however,  Judah  changes  sides  ; 
by  the  help  of  Jehovah  they  destroy  the  heathen, 
and  Jerusalem  is  saved,  xii.  1-8.  Then  the  people 
and  their  leaders  are  moved  by  the  outpouring  of  the 
spirit  to  confess  and  entreat  forgiveness  for  some 
judicial  murder  which  they  have  committed  and 
which  they  publicly  and  bitterly  lament,  xii.  9-14. 
The  prayer  is  answered  ;  people  and  leaders  are 
cleansed  in  a  fountain  opened,  with  the  result  that 
idolatry  and  prophecy  of  the  ancient  public  type 
are  abjured,  xiii.  1-6. 

The  theme  of  the  last  section  also  (xiv.)  is  a 
heathen  attack  upon  Jerusalem,  but  this  time  the 
city  is  destroyed  and  half  the  inhabitants  exiled. 
Then  Jehovah  intervenes,  and  by  a  miracle  upon 
the  Mount  of  Olives  the  rest  of  the  people  effect 
their  escape,  and  Jehovah  fights  with  all  His  angels 


Zechariah  229 

against  the  heathen.  Those  glorious  Messianic 
days,  when  Jehovah  will  be  King  over  all  the  earth, 
will  know  no  heat  or  cold,  or  change  from  light  to 
darkness.  Jerusalem  will  be  secure  and  the  land 
about  her  level  and  fruitful,  watered  east  and  west 
by  a  living  stream.  Those  who  have  made  war 
against  her  will  waste  away,  while  the  rest  of 
the  world  will  make  pilgrimages  to  the  holy  city 
to  worship  Jehovah  and  celebrate  the  feast  of  booths. 
Then  the  mighty  war-horses,  once  the  object  of  His 
hatred,  will  be  consecrated  to  His  service,  and  the 
number  of  pilgrims  will  be  so  great  that  every  pot 
in  the  city  and  in  the  province  of  Judah  will  be 
needed  for  ceremonial  purposes. 

Few  problems  in  the  Old  Testament  are  more 
perplexing  than  that  of  the  origin  and  relation  of 
the  sections  composing,  ix.-xiv.  to  one  another. 
The  utmost  that  can  be  said  with  comparative 
certainty  is  that  the  prophecy,  in  its  present  form, 
is  post-exilic,  while  certain  elements  in  it,  especially 
in  ix.-xi.,  are,  if  not  pre-exilic,  at  any  rate  imitations 
or  reminiscences  of  pre-exilic  prophecy.  Many 
scholars  even  deny  that  ix.-xiv.  is  a  unity  and 
assign  it  to  at  least  two  authors.  Though  the  super- 
scription in  xii.  1,  which  seems  to  justify  this  dis- 
tinction, was  probably  added,  like  Malachi  i.  i,  by 
a  later  hand,  the  presence  of  certain  broad  distinc- 
tions between  ix.-xi.  and  xii.-xiv.  can  hardly  be 
denied.  In  the  former  section,  Ephraim  is  occa- 
sionally mentioned  in  combination  with  Judah,  cf. 
ix.  13  ;  in  the  latter,  Judah  alone  is  mentioned,  and 
partly,  on  the  strength  of  this,  the  former  section 


230   Old  Testament   Introduction 

is  assigned  to  a  period  between  Tiglath  Pileser's 
invasion  of  the  north  of  Palestine  in  734  (xi.  1-3) 
and  the  fall  of  the  northern  kingdom  in  721,  while 
the  latter  is  assigned  to  a  period  between  the  death 
of  Josiah  in  609,  to  which  the  mourning  in  Megiddo 
is  supposed  to  allude,  xii.  11,  and  the  fall  of  the 
southern  kingdom  in  586. 

Even  within  these  sections  there  are  differences 
which  are  held  to  be  incompatible  with  the  unity 
of  each  section.  The  most  notable  difference  is 
perhaps  that  affecting  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  In 
ch.  xii.  the  heathen  are  destroyed  before  Jerusalem, 
while  the  city  itself  remains  secure  ;  in  ch.  xiv.  the 
houses  are  rifled,  the  women  ravished,  and  half  of 
the  people  go  into  captivity  before  Jehovah  inter- 
venes to  protect  the  remainder.  These  and  other 
differences  are  unmistakable,  yet  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned whether  they  are  so  serious  as  to  be  fatal  to 
the  unity  of  the  whole  section,  ix.-xiv.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  they  may  be  due  to  the  eclectic 
spirit  of  an  author  who  gathered  from  many  quarters 
material  for  his  eschatological  pictures.  Besides, 
the  sections  which  have  been  by  some  scholars 
relegated  to  different  authors,  occasionally  seem  to 
imply  each  other.  The  general  assault  on  Jerusalem 
in  ch.  xii.,  e.g.,  is  the  natural  result  of  the  breaking 
of  the  staves,  Favour  and  Unity,  in  ch.  xi.  But, 
even  if  ix.-xiv.  be  a  unity,  it  is  well  to  remember,  as 
Cornill  reminds  us,  that  there  is  "  much  in  these 
chapters  which  will  ever  remain  obscure  and  unin- 
telligible, because  our  knowledge  of  the  whole  post- 
exilic  and  especially  of  the  early  Hellenic  period  is 
extremely  deficient." 


Zechariah  231 


This  leads  to  the  question  of  date.  The  last 
section  (xii.~xiv.)  at  any  rate  is  obviously  post- 
exilic.  The  idea  of  the  general  assault  on  Jerusalem 
is  undoubtedly  suggested  by  Ezekiel  xxxviii. ;  the 
curiously  condemnatory  attitude  to  prophecy  in 
xiii.  2-6  would  have  been  impossible  in  pre-exilic 
times ;  the  phrase,  "  Uzziah  king  of  Judah"  xiv.  5, 
rather  implies  that  the  dynasty  is  past,  and  the  refer- 
ence to  the  earthquake  in  his  reign  has  the  flavour 
of  a  learned  reminiscence.1  These  and  other  cir- 
cumstances practically  necessitate  a  post-exilic 
date,  and  the  objection  based  upon  xii.  n  falls  to 
the  ground,  as  that  verse  alludes,  in  all  probability, 
not  to  lamentations  for  the  death  of  Josiah,  which 
would  no  doubt  have  taken  place  in  Jerusalem,  but 
to  laments  which  accompanied  the  worship  of  the 
Semitic  Adonis.  Nor  can  any  objection  be  grounded 
upon  the  allusion  to  idolatry  in  xiii.  2,  as  idolatry 
persisted  into  post-exilic  times.2 

If  ix.-xiv.  be  a  unity,  a  definite  terminus  a  quo  is 
provided  in  ix.  13  by  the  mention  of  the  Greeks, 
whose  sons  are  opposed  to  the  sons  of  Zion.  Such 
a  : elation  of  Jews  to  Greeks  is  not  conceivable  before 
the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  this  fact  alone 
would  throw  the  prophecy,  at  the  earliest,  into  the 
fourth  century  B.C.  But  there  are  other  facts 
which  seem  to  some  to  make  for  a  pre-exilic  date  : 
e.g.  the  mention  of  Judah  and  Ephraim  together, 
ix.  13  (cf.  ix.  10),  seems  to  presuppose  the  existence 

1  Even  if  the  earliest  possible  date  (about  600)  for  this  section 
be  accepted,  the  earthquake  had  taken  place  a  century  and  a 
half  before. 

2  Cf.  Job  xxxi.  26ff .  and  perhaps  also  Ps.  xvi. 


2  3  2    Old  Testament   Introduction 

of  both  kingdoms,  and  Egypt  and  Assyria  are  placed 
side  by  side,  x.  io,  n,  precisely  in  the  manner  of 
Hosea  (ix.  3,  xi.  5).  But  these  facts,  significant  as 
they  may  seem,  are  by  no  means  decisive  in  favour 
of  a  pre-exilic  date.  Assyria  was  the  first  great 
world  power  with  which  Israel  came  into  hostile 
contact,  and  the  name  was  not  unnaturally  trans- 
ferred by  later  ages  to  the  hostile  powers  of  their 
own  day — to  Babylon  in  Lam.  v.  6,  to  Persia  in 
Ezra  vi.  22,  and  possibly  to  Syria  in  Isaiah  xxvii.  13. 
Consequently,  in  a  context  which  assigns  the  passage, 
at  the  earliest,  to  the  Greek  period,  Assyria  and 
Egypt  would  very  naturally  designate  the  Seleucid 
and  Ptolemaic  kingdoms  respectively,  and  the 
prophecy  might  be  safely  relegated  to  the  third 
century,  B.C.1  The  allusion  to  Ephraim  is  not  in- 
compatible with  this  date,  for  the  prophecy  pre- 
supposes a  general  dispersion,  x.  9,  which  must  be 
later  than  the  fall  of  Judah  in  586,  considering  that 
residence  in  Egypt,  x.  10,  is  implied  (cf.  Jer.  xlii.- 
xliv.).  Nothing  more  need  be  implied  by  the  allu- 
sion to  Ephraim  than  that  there  will  be  a  general 
restoration  of  all  the  tribes  that  were  once  driven 
into  exile  and  are  now  scattered  throughout  the 
world. 

If  chs.  ix.-xiv.  belong  to  the  third  century  B.C., 

1  Marti  puts  it  as  late  as  160.  One  of  the  most  important 
clues  would  be  furnished  by  xi.  8 — "  I  cut  off  the  three  shepherds 
in  one  month  " — if  the  reference  were  not  so  cryptic.  Advocates 
of  a  pre-exilic  date  find  in  the  words  an  allusion  to  three  succes- 
sors of  Jeroboam  II.  of  Israel — Zechariah,  Shallum  and  some 
unknown  pretender  (about  740)  ;  others,  to  the  rapid  succession 
of  high  priests  before  the  Maccabean  wars  (about  170).  One 
month  probably  signifies  generally  a  brief  time. 


Zechariah  233 

they  give  us  an  interesting  glimpse  into  the  aspira- 
tions and  defects  of  later  Judaism.  They  reveal 
an  unbounded  faith  in  the  importance  of  Jerusalem, 
and  in  the  certainty  of  its  triumph  over  the  assaults 
of  heathenism  ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  inspired 
by  a  fine  universalism,  xiv.  i6ff.  But  this  univer- 
salism  has  a  distinctly  Levitical  and  legalistic 
colouring,  xiv.  21.  Membership  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  involves  abstinence  from  food  proscribed  by 
the  Levitical  law,  ix.  7  ;  and  even  for  the  heathen 
the  worship  of  Jehovah  takes  the  form  of  the  cele- 
bration of  the  feast  of  booths,  xiv.  16.  There  is  in 
the  prophecy  a  noble  appreciation  of  the  world-wide 
destiny  of  the  true  religion,  but  hardly  of  its  essen- 
tially spiritual  nature. 


Malachi 

It  is  not  inappropriate  that  Malachi,1  though  not 
the  latest  of  the  prophets,  should  close  the  prophetic 
collection.  The  concluding  words  of  this  book, 
which  predict  the  coming  of  the  great  prophet 
Elijah,  iv.  5L,  and  the  apocalyptic  tone  of  Malachi, 
show  that  prophecy  feels  itself  unable  to  cope 
adequately  with  the  moral  situation  and  is  con- 
scious of  its  own  decline.  Here,  as  in  Haggai, 
interest  gathers  round  ritual  rather  than  moral  ob- 
ligation, though  the  latter  is  not  neglected,  iii.  5, 
and  the  religion  for  which  Malachi  pleads  is  far  from 
being  exhausted  by  ritual.  He  takes  a  lofty  view, 
approaching  to  Jesus'  own,  of  the  obligations  of  the 
marriage  relation,  ii.  16  ;  and  perfunctory  ritual  he 
abhors,  chiefly  because  it  expresses  a  deep-seated  in- 
difference to  God  and  His  claims,  iii.  8.  The  clergy 
or  the  laity  who  offer  God  their  lame  or  blemished 
beasts  are  guilty  of  an  offence  that  goes  deeper  than 
ritual.  Their  whole  ideal  of  religion  and  service  is 
insulting  ;  they  have  forgotten  that  Jehovah  is  "  a 
great  King,"  i.  14. 
The  prophecy  of  Malachi  is  closely  knit  together. 

1  Ch.  i.  1  is  late,  modelled,  like  Zech.  xii.  i  on  Zech.  ix.  i.  The 
word  Malachi  has  no  doubt  been  suggested  by  Malachi  in  iii.  I 
(  =  my  messenger).     The  prophecy  is  really  anonymous. 

234 


Malachi  235 

Addressing  a  people  who  doubt  the  love  of  their  God, 
he  begins  by  pointing — strangely  enough  from  the 
Christian  standpoint,  but  intelligibly  enough  from 
that  of  early  post-exilic  Judaism — to  the  desolation 
of  Edom,  Judah's  enemy  (cf.  Obadiah)  in  proof  of 
that  love,  i.  2-5,  and  asks  how  Judah  has  responded 
to  it.  The  priests  present  inferior  offerings,  thus 
forming,  in  their  insulting  indifference,  a  strange 
contrast  to  the  untutored  heathen  hearts  all  the 
world  over,  which  offer  God  pure  service  ;  they  have 
put  to  shame  the  ancient  ideals,  i.  6-ii.  9.  The 
people,  too,  are  as  guilty  as  the  priests  ;  for  they 
had  divorced  their  faithful  Jewish  wives  who  had 
borne  them  children,  and  married  foreign  women 
who  were  a  menace  to  the  purity  of  the  national 
religion,  ii.  10-16.  Those  who  are  beginning  to 
doubt  the  moral  order  because  Jehovah  does  not 
manifestly  interpose  as  the  God  of  justice,  are 
assured  by  the  prophet  that  the  Lord,  preceded  by  a 
messenger,  is  on  His  way  ;  and  He  will  punish,  first 
the  unfaithful  priests,  and  then  the  unfaithful 
people,  ii.  17-iii.  5.  His  apparent  indifference  to 
the  people  is  due  to  their  real  indifference  to  Him  ; 
if  they  bring  in  the  tithes,  the  blessing  will  come, 
iii.  6-12.  As  before,  ii.  17ft0.,  the  despondent  are 
assured  that  Jehovah  has  not  forgotten  them  ;  He 
is  writing  their  names  in  a  book,  and  when  He  comes 
in  judgment,  the  faithful  will  be  spared,  and  then 
the  difference  between  the  destinies  of  the  good  and 
the  bad  will  be  plain  for  all  to  see.  The  wicked 
shall  be  trampled  under  foot,  and  upon  the  dark 
world  in  which  the  upright  mourn  shall  arise  the 
sun,  from  whose  gentle  rays  will  stream  healing  for 


236   Old   Testament   Introduction 

bruised  minds  and  hearts,  iii.  13-iv.  4.  Before  that 
day  Elijah  will  come  to  heal  the  dissensions  of  the 
home,  iv.  5,  6.  (cf.  ii.  14). 

The  atmosphere  of  the  book  of  Malachi  is  very 
much  like  that  of  Ezra-Nehemiah.  The  same  pro- 
blems emerge  in  both — foreign  marriages,  neglect  of 
payment  of  tithes,  etc.  But  the  allusion  to  the 
presents  given  the  governor,  i.  8,  shows  that  the 
book  was  not  written  during  the  governorship  of 
Nehemiah,  who  claims  to  have  accepted  no  presents 
(Neh.  v.  14-18).  On  the  other  hand,  the  state  of 
affairs  presented  by  the  book  is  inconceivable  after 
the  measures  adopted  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  ; 
therefore,  Malachi  must  precede  them.  Probably 
however,  not  by  much  ;  it  was  Malachi  and  others 
like-minded  who  prepared  the  way  for  the  reform- 
ation, and  his  date  may  be  roughly  fixed  at  460- 
450  B.C.  Consistently  with  this,  the  priests  are 
designated  Levites,  ii.  4,  iii.  3,  as  in  Deuteronomy  ; 
the  book  must  therefore  precede  the  priestly  code 
which  sharply  distinguishes  priests  and  Levites. 

There  is  an  unusual  proportion  of  dialogue  in 
Malachi.  Good  men  are  perplexed  by  the  anoma- 
lies of  the  moral  order,  and  they  are  not  afraid  to 
debate  them.  Malachi's  solution  is  largely,  though 
not  exclusively,  iii.  8-12,  apocalyptic  ;  and  though 
in  this,  as  in  his  emphasis  on  the  cult,  iii.  4,  and  his 
attitude  to  Edom,  i.  2ff.,  he  stands  upon  the  level 
of  ordinary  Judaism,  in  other  respects  he  rises  far 
above  it.  Coming  from  one  to  whom  correct  ritual 
meant  so  much,  his  utterance  touching  heathen 
worship  is  not  only  refreshingly,  but  astonishingly 


Malachi  237 

bold.  In  all  the  Old  Testament,  there  is  no  more 
generous  outlook  upon  the  foreign  world  than  that 
of  1.  II.  Though  the  priests  of  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem  insult  the  name  of  Jehovah  and  are 
wearied  with  His  service,  yet  "  from  sunrise  to  sun- 
set My  name  is  great  among  the  (heathen)  nations, 
and  in  every  place  pure  offerings  are  offered  to  My 
name  ;  for  great  is  My  name  among  the  heathen, 
saith  Jehovah  of  hosts." 


Psalms 

The  piety  of  the  Old  Testament  Church  is  reflected 
with  more  clearness  and  variety  in  the  Psalter  than 
in  any  other  book  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  con- 
stitutes the  response  of  the  Church  to  the  divine 
demands  of  prophecy,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  of  law  ; 
or,  rather,  it  expresses  those  emotions  and  aspir- 
ations of  the  universal  heart  which  lie  deeper  than 
any  formal  demand.  It  is  the  speech  of  the  soul 
face  to  face  with  God.  Its  words  are  as  simple  and 
unaffected  as  human  words  can  be,  for  it  is  the 
genius  of  Hebrew  poetry  to  lay  little  stress  upon 
artifices  of  rhyme  and  rhythm.  By  its  simple  de- 
vice of  parallelism,  it  suggests  a  rhythm  profounder 
than  the  sound  of  any  words — the  response  of  thought 
to  thought,  the  calling  of  deep  to  deep,  the  solemn 
harmonies  that  run  throughout  the  universe. 
Whether  the  second  thought  of  a  verse  is  co-ordinate 
with  the  first,  as — 

Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder, 

And  cast  away  their  cords  from  us,  ii  3. 

or  contrasted  with  it,  as — 

Jehovah  knows  the  way  of  the  righteous, 
But  the  way  of  the  ungodly  shall  perish,  i.  6, 

the  resulting  parallelism  is  essentially  simple,  and 

238 


Psalms  239 

the  Hebrew  poet  can  express  his  profoundest 
thoughts  and  feelings  with  lucidity  and  freedom. 
It  is  the  depth  and  sincerity  of  its  emotion,  coupled 
with  this  unrivalled  simplicity  of  expression  that 
has  given  the  Psalter  its  abiding-place  in  the  reli- 
gious history  of  humanity. 

With  the  partial  exception  of  Psalm  xlv.,  which 
is  a  marriage  song,  the  songs  of  the  Psalter  are  ex- 
clusively religious.  Indeed  most  of  the  poetry  of 
the  Old  Testament  is  religious;  the  Song  of 
Deborah,  e.g.  (Jud.  v.),  or  the  Psalm  of  Hezekiah 
(Isa.  xxxviii.).  But,  from  scattered  hints  it  is 
abundantly  plain  that,  especially  before  the  exile, 
Hebrew  poetry  must  have  ranged  over  a  wide  variety 
of  themes.  So  far  as  we  know,  the  Hebrews  never 
had  an  epic;  and  though  a  certain  epic  power  is 
occasionally  suggested  by  the  extant  literature,  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  the  Hebrew  genius,  which 
was  essentially  lyrical,  would  have  been  capable 
of  the  long  sustained  effort  demanded  by  a  great 
epic.  But  the  lyrical  genius  of  the  Hebrew  found 
abundant  opportunity  in  life's  common  joys,  sorrows 
and  activities.  Victories  in  battle  were  celebrated 
in  ballads,  which  made  the  blood  leap,  love  songs 
were  sung  at  weddings,  and  dirges  were  chanted  over 
the  dead.  The  labour  of  drawing  water,  of  reaping 
the  fields  or  gathering  the  vintage,  was  relieved  by 
snatches  of  song.  There  was  all  this  and  more, 
but  it  has  nearly  all  perished,  leaving  little  more 
than  an  echo,  because  the  men  who  compiled  and 
edited  the  Old  Testament  were  dominated  by  an 
exclusively  religious  interest. 

But  if  the  interest  of  the  Psalter  be  exclusively 


240   Old  Testament   Introduction 

religious,  we  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  its 
variety.  From  the  deepest  despair  to  the  highest 
exaltation,  every  mood  of  the  soul  is  uttered  there. 
Many  a  classification  of  the  Psalter  has  been  at- 
tempted, e.g.  into  (a)  psalms  of  gladness,  such  as 
thanksgiving  (xlvi.),  adoration  (viii.)  ;  (b)  psalms  of 
sadness,  such  as  lamentation  (lxxiv.),  confession 
(li.),  supplication  (cii.)  ;  (c)  psalms  of  reflection,  such 
as  the  occasional  didactic  poetry  (cxix.),  or  dis- 
cussions of  the  moral  order  (lxxiii.).  But  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  no  classification  can  ever  hope 
to  be  completely  satisfactory,  if  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  the  psalms,  being  for  the  most  part  lyrics, 
are  often  marked  by  subtle  and  rapid  changes  of 
feeling,  passing  sometimes,  as  in  Psalm  xxii.,  from 
the  most  touching  laments  to  the  most  daring  ex- 
pressions of  hope  and  gladness.  The  following 
classification,  though  exposed,  as  all  such  classi- 
fications must  be,  to  the  charge  of  cross-division, 
will  afford  a  working  basis  for  the  study  of  the 
Psalter : — 

(1)  Psalms  of  Adoration,  including  (a)  adoration  of 
God  for  His  revelation  in  nature,  viii.,  xix.  1-6, 
xxix.,  civ.  ;  (b)  adoration  of  Him  for  His  love  to  His 
people,  xxxiii.,  ciii.,  cxi.,  cxiii.,  cxv.,cxvii.,cxlvii.  ; 
(c)  praise  of  His  glorious  kingdom,  cxlv.,  cxlvi., 
ending  with  the  call  to  universal  praise,  cxlviii.,  cl. 

(2)  Psalms  of  Reflection  (a)  upon  the  moral  order 
of  the  world,  ix.,  x.,  xi.,  xiv.  xxxvi.,  xxxvii.,  xxxix., 
xlix.,  lii.,  lxii.,  lxxiii.,  lxxv.,  lxxxii.,  xc,  xch., 
xciv. ;  (b)  upon  Divine  Providence,  xvi.,  xxiii., 
xxxiv.,  xci.,  cxii.,  cxxi.,  cxxv.,  cxxvii.,  cxxviii., 
cxxxiii.,  cxxxix.,  cxliv.  12-15  ;  (c)  on  the  value  of 


Psalms  241 


Scripture,  i.,  xix.  7-14,  cxix.  ;  (d)  on  the  nature  of 
the  ideal  man,  xv.,  xxiv.  1-6, 1. 

(3)  Psalms  of  Thanksgiving,  most  of  them  for 
historical  deliverances,  e.g.  from  the  exile,  or  from 
the  Syrians  in  the  second  century  B.C.,  xxx.,  xl., 
xlvi.,  xlviii.,  lxv.,  lxvi.,  lxvii.,  lxviii.,  lxxvi.,  cxvi., 
cxviii.,  cxxiv.,  cxxvi.,  cxxix.,  cxxxviii.,  cxliv.  i-n, 
cxlix. 

(4)  Psalms  in  Celebration  of  Worship,  v.,  xxiv., 
7-10,  xxvi.,  xxvii.,  xlii.-xliii.,  lxxxiv.,  cxxii.,  cxxxiv. 

(5)  Historical  Psalms  (a)  emphasizing  the  un- 
faithfulness of  the  people,  lxxviii.,  lxxxi.,  cvi.  ; 
(b)  emphasizing  the  love  or  power  of  God,  cv.,  cxiv., 
cxxxv.,  cxxxvi. 

(6)  Imprecatory  Psalms,  lviii.,  lix.,  lxix.,  lxxxiii., 
cix.,  cxxxvii. 

(7)  Penitential  Psalms,  vi.,  xxxii.,  xxxviii.,  li.,  cii., 
cxxx.,  cxliii. 

(8)  Psalms  of  Petition  (a)  prayers  for  deliverance, 
preservation  or  restoration,  hi.,  iv.,  vii.,  xii.,  xiii., 
xvii.,  xxv.,  xxxi.,  xxxv.,  xli.,  xliv.,  liv.,  Iv.,  lx., 
lxiv.,  lxxi.,  lxxiv.,  lxxvii.,  lxxix.,  lxxx.,  lxxxv., 
lxxxvi.,  lxxxviii.,  cxx.,  cxxiii.,  cxxxi.,  cxl.,  cxli., 
cxlii  ;  (b)  answered  prayers,  xxii.,  xxviii.,  lvi.,  lvii. 

(9)  Royal  Psalms  (a)  king's  coronation,  xxi.  ;  (b) 
marriage,  xlv.  ;  (c)  prayers  for  his  welfare  and  suc- 
cess, xx.,  Ixi.,  lxiii.  ;  (d)his  character,  lxxii.,  ci.  ;  (e) 
dominion,  ii.,  xviii.,  ex.  ;  (/)  yearning  for  the  Mes- 
sianic King,  lxxxix.,  exxxii. 

(10)  Psalms  concerning  the  universal  reign  of 
Jehovah,  i.e.  Messianic  psalms  in  the  largest  sense 
of  the  word,  xlvii.,  lxxxvii.,  xciii.,  xcv.,  xcvi.,  xcvii., 
xcviii.,  xcix.,  c. 

16 


242    Old  Testament  Introduction 

The  Psalter  has  plainly  had  a  long  history.  In 
its  present  form  it  obviously  rests  upon  groups, 
which  in  turn  rest  upon  individual  psalms,  that 
are  no  doubt  often  far  older  than  the  groups  in  which 
they  stand.  Like  the  Pentateuch,  and  perhaps  in 
imitation  of  it,  the  Psalter  is  divided  into  five  books, 
whose  close  is  indicated,  in  each  case,  by  a  doxology 
(xli.,  lxxii.,  lxxxix.,  cvi.),  except  in  the  case  of  the  last 
psalm,  which  is  itself  a  doxology  (cl.).  This  division 
appears  to  have  been  artificially  effected.  Psalm 
cvii.,  which  starts  the  last  book,  goes  naturally  with 
cv.  and  cvi.,  which  close  the  fourth  book  ;  and  the 
circumstance  that  the  number  of  psalms  in  the 
fourth  book  corresponds  exactly  with  that  of  the 
third,  raises  a  strong  suspicion  that  the  break  was 
deliberately  made  at  Psalm  cvi.  It  is  very  pro- 
bable, too,  that  the  doxology  at  the  close  of  Psalm 
cvi.  (cf.  i  Chron.  xvi.  36),  which  differs  somewhat 
from  the  other  doxologies,  was  originally  intended 
as  a  doxology  to  that  psalm  only,  and  not  to  indi- 
cate the  close  of  the  book.  In  any  case,  the  con- 
tents of  books  4  and  5,  which  are  very  largely 
liturgical,  are  so  similar  that  they  may  be  practically 
considered  as  one  book. 

Books  2  and  3  may  also  be  similarly  regarded  ; 
for  whereas  in  books  1,  4  and  5  the  name  of  the 
divine  Being  is  predominantly  Jehovah,  in  books 
2  and  3  it  is  predominantly  Elohim  (God),  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  two  books,  at 
least  as  far  as  Ps.  lxxxiii.,  have  been  submitted  to 
an  Elohistic  redaction.  Psalm  xiv.,  e.g.,  reappears 
in  the  2nd  book  as  Psalm  liii.  in  a  form 
practically  identical,  except  for  the  name  of  God, 


Psalms  243 


which  is  Jehovah  in  the  one  (xiv.)  and  Elohim  in 
the  other  (liii.) ;  the  change  is,  therefore,  undoubtedly 
deliberate.  This  is  also  made  plain  by  the  presence 
of  such  impossible  phrases  as  "  God,  thy  God," 
xlv.  7,  1.  7,  instead  of  the  natural  and  familiar 
"  Jehovah,  thy  God."  Whatever  the  motive  for 
the  choice  of  this  divine  name  (Elohim)  may  be,  it 
is  so  thoroughly  characteristic  of  books  2  and  3 
that  they  may  not  unfairly  be  held  to  constitute 
a  group  by  themselves.  In  this  way  the  Psalter 
falls  into  three  great  groups — book  1  (i.-xli.),  which 
is  Jehovistic,  books  2  and  3  (xlii.-lxxxix.),  which 
are  Elohistic,  and  books  4  and  5  (xc.-cl.),  which 
are  Jehovistic. 

These  greater  groups  rest,  however,  upon  other 
smaller  ones,  some  formally  acknowledged,  e.g.  the 
so-called  Psalms  of  Ascent  or  Pilgrim  psalms 
(cxx.-cxxxiv.),  the  Psalms  of  David,  Psalms  of  the 
Korahites  (xlii.-xlix.,  etc.),  Psalms  of  Asaph 
(lxxiii.-lxxxiii.,  etc.),  and  others  not  so  obvious  in  a 
translation,  e.g.  the  Hallelujah  Psalms,  cxi.-cxiii., 
cxlvi.-cl.  These  groups  must  often  have,  enjoyed  an 
independent  reputation  as  groups,  and  even  been 
invested  with  a  certain  canonical  authority,  for 
occasionally  the  same  psalm  appears  in  two  different 
groups  (xiv.  =  liii . ,  xl.  13-17  =  lxx.,  cviii.  =lvii.  7-11 
-fix.  6-12).  Such  repetition  proves  that  the  final 
editors  did  not  consider  themselves  at  liberty  to 
make  any  change  within  the  groups.  The  prin- 
ciple of  the  arrangement  of  individual  psalms 
within  the  group  was  probably  not  a  scientific  one  : 
e.g.  xxxiv.  and  xxxv.  seem  to  be  placed  together 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  both  refer  to  "  the 


244   Old  Testament   Introduction 

angel  of  Jehovah,"  xxxiv.  7,  xxxv.  5.  Sometimes 
a  psalm  has  been  wrongly  divided  into  two  (cf.  xlii., 
xliii.,  originally  one  psalm)  and  occasionally  two 
psalms  have  been  united,  usually  for  reasons  that 
are  transparent  (so  perhaps  xix.,  the  revelation  in 
the  heavens  and  the  revelation  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  xxiv.,  the  entrance  of  Jehovah  into  His  temple, 
and  the  essential  conditions  for  the  entrance  of  man). 

The  original  order  of  the  groups  themselves  ap- 
pears to  have  been  dislocated.  Whoever  added  the 
subscription  to  Psalm  lxxii.  can  hardly  have  been 
aware  of  the  eighteen  psalms  which,  in  the  sub- 
sequent books  of  the  Psalter,  are  ascribed  to  David  ; 
nor  is  it  natural  to  suppose  that  the  Asaphic  (1.) 
and  Korahitic  psalms  (xlii.-xlix.)  stood  in  the  second 
book  when  that  subscription  was  written.  It  is 
not  improbable  that  Psalms  xlii.-l.  originally  be- 
longed to  the  third  book,  along  with  the  Asaphic 
group,  lxxiii.-lxxxiii.,  and  that  lxxii.  20,  "The 
prayers  of  David  the  son  of  Jesse  are  ended,"  was 
intended  as  the  subscription  of  all  the  Davidic 
psalms  that  had  then  been  collected  (Book  1,  except 
Pss.  i.,  ii.,  x.,  xxxiii.,  and  book  2,  Pss.  li.-lxx.).1  The 
first  two  books  originally  represented  a  Davidic 
hymn-book  ;  they  probably  represent,  as  a  whole, 
the  oldest  part  of  the  Psalter. 

The  problem  of  the  authorship  of  the  Psalms  is 
one  of  the  thorniest  in  the  Old  Testament.  One 
hundred  psalms  are  ascribed  to  definite  authors  : 

1  Psalms  i.  and  ii.  were  placed  at  the  beginning  as  prefa- 
tory to  the  whole  Psalter.  They  deal  with  the  two  cardinal 
points  of  Judaism — the  law  and  the  Messianic  hope.  Psalms 
ix.  and  x.  originally  constituted  one  alphabetic  psalm,  and 
xxxiii.  is  ascribed  to  David  in  the  Septuagint. 


Psalms  245 

one  is  ascribed  to  Moses  (xc.),  seventy-three  to  David, 
two  to  Solomon  (lxxvii.,  cxxvii.)  ;  and  yet  there  are 
not  a  few  scholars  who  maintain  that,  so  far  from  any 
psalm  being  Mosaic,  or  even  Davidic,  there  is  not  a 
single  pre-exilic  psalm  in  the  Psalter,  and  the  less 
radical  critics  do  not  allow  more  than  thirty  or 
forty.     The  question  must  be  settled  entirely  upon 
internal  evidence,  as  the  superscriptions,  definite  as 
they  often  are,   are  never  demonstrably  reliable, 
while   some   of   them   are   plainly   impossible.     To 
begin  with,  doubt  attaches  to  the  meaning  of  the 
Hebrew  preposition  in  the  phrase,  "  Psalm  of  David." 
It  is  the  same  preposition  as  that  rendered  by  for 
in  the  phrase/'  For  the  chief  musician,"  and  as  in  this 
phrase  authorship  is  out  of  the  question,  it  may  be 
seriously  doubted  whether  it  is  implied  in  the  phrase 
rendered  "  Psalm  of  David."     This  doubt  is  cor- 
roborated by  the  phrase,  "  Psalms  of  the  sons  of 
Korah."     Plainly   all   the    Korahites   did   not   co- 
operate in  the  composition  of  the  psalms  so  super- 
scribed ;   and  the  most  natural  inference  is  that  the 
phrase  does  not  here  designate  authorship,  but  that 
the  psalm  is  one  of  a  collection  in  some  sense  belong- 
ing to  or  destined  for  the  Korahitic  guild  of  temple- 
singers.1     In  that  case  the  phrase  would  have  a 
liturgical  sense,  and  the  parallel  phrase  "  of  (or  for) 
David,"  might  have  to  be  similarly  explained.     It 
must  be  confessed,  however,  that  whatever  the  actual 
origin  of  the  superscription,  "  of  (or  for)  David,"  it 
certainly  came  to  be  regarded  as  implying  author- 

1  It  is  not  absolutely  impossible  that  the  phrase  might  point 
to  a  collection  composed  by  this  guild,  cf.  "  Moravian  brethren." 
But  the  other  supposition  is  more  likely. 


246   Old  Testament  Introduction 

ship — the  many  historical  notices  in  the  super- 
scriptions of  Psalms  li.-lx.  are  proof  enough  of  that ; 
and  no  other  explanation  is  possible  of  the  super- 
scription "  of  Moses  "  in  Psalm,  xc  (cf.  Is.  xxxviii.  9, 
the  writing  of  Hezekiah). 

In  later  times,  then,  authorship  was  plainly  in- 
tended by  the  superscriptions.  But  it  is  quite 
certain  that  the  superscriptions  themselves  are  no 
original  and  integral  parts  of  the  psalms.  In  the 
Septuagint  they  occasionally  differ  from  the 
Hebrew,  assigning  psalms  that  are  anonymous  in 
the  Hebrew  (xcv.,  cxxxvii.)  to  David,  or  to  other 
authors  (e.g.,  cxlvi.-cxlviii.  to  Haggai  and  Zechariah. 
The  ease  with  which  psalms  were,  without  warrant, 
ascribed  to  David  may  be  seen  from  the  Greek 
superscription  to  Psalm  xcvi.  "  When  the  house 
[i.e.  the  temple]  was  being  built  after  the  captivity  ; 
a  song  of  David  "  :  in  other  words,  an  admittedly 
post-exilic  psalm  is  ascribed  to  David.  The  super- 
scriptions were  added  probably  long  after  the  psalms, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Hebrews 
were  exempt  from  the  uncritical  methods  and  ideas 
which  characterized  the  Greek  translators.  That 
they  shared  them  is  abundantly  proved  by  the  his- 
torical superscriptions.  One  at  least  (Ps.  xxxiv.)  in 
substituting  the  name  of  Abimelech  (Gen.  xx.)  for 
Achish  (1  Sam.  xxi.)  shows  either  ignorance  or  care- 
lessness, and  casts  a  very  lurid  light  on  the  reliability 
of  the  superscriptions.  The  contents  of  other 
psalms  are  manifestly  irreconcilable  with  the  assumed 
authorship :  Asaph,  e.g.,  whom  the  Chronicler 
regards  as  a  contemporary  of  David  (1  Chron.  xvi. 
7),  laments  in  Psalms  lxxiv.,  lxxix.  the  devastation 


Psalms  247 

of  the  temple,  which  was  not  at  that  time  in  existence. 
The  principles  on  which  the  superscriptions  were 
added  were  altogether  superficial  and  uncritical. 
Psalm  cxxvii.  is  ascribed  to  Solomon,  chiefly  because 
its  opening  verse  speaks  of  the  building  of  the  house, 
which  was  understood  to  be  the  temple.  So  Psalm 
lxiii.  is  described  as  "  a  psalm  of  David  when  he  was 
in  the  wilderness  of  Judah,"  simply  on  the  strength 
of  the  words,  "  My  soul  thirsteth  for  thee  in  a  dry 
and  weary  land  where  no  water  is  " — words  which 
are  taken  literally,  though  they  were  undoubtedly 
intended  metaphorically.  A  parallel  case  is  that  of 
the  psalm  inserted  in  Jonah  ii.,  obviously  a  church 
psalm  whose  figurative  language  has  been  too  liter- 
ally pressed. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the^super- 
scriptions  are  later  than  the  psalms  themselves,  and 
often,  if  not  always,  unreliable  ;  we  are  therefore 
wholly  dependent  upon  internal  evidence,  and  the 
criteria  for  Davidic  authorship  must  be  sought 
outside  the  Psalter.  The  only  absolutely  undis- 
puted poems  of  David's  are  the  elegy  over  Saul  and 
Jonathan  in  2  Samuel  i.  and  the  lament  over  Abner 
(2  Sam.  iii.  33,  34).  There  is  no  means  of  proving 
that  2  Samuel  xxii.  ( =  Ps.  xviii.)  and  2  Samuel  xxiii. 
1-7  are  David's,  as  they  are  interpolated  in  a 
section  of  Samuel  which  is  itself  an  interpolation 
(xxi.-xxiv.),  interrupting  as  it  does  the  continuity 
of  2  Samuel  xx.  and  1  Kings  i.  The  data  offered  by 
the  elegy  are  much  too  slender  to  enable  us  to  de- 
cide whether  any  particular  psalm  is  David's  or  not. 
Some  have  ventured  to  ascribe  a  dozen  psalms  or  so 
to  him  on  the  strength  of  their  peculiar  vigour  and 


248    Old   Testament  Introduction 

originality,  but  obviously  all  such  decisions  must  be 
altogether  subjective.  What  is  certain  is  that 
David  was  an  accomplished  musician  (1  Sam.  xvi. 
18)  and  a  great  poet  (2  Sam.  i.),  a  man  of  the  most 
varied  experience,  rich  emotional  nature  and  pro- 
found religious  feeling,  a  devoted  worshipper  of 
Jehovah,  and  eager  to  build  Him  a  temple  ;  and  it 
is  not  impossible  that  such  a  man  may  have  written 
religious  songs,  but  in  the  nature  of  the  case  it  can 
never  be  proved  that  he  wrote  any  of  the  songs  in 
the  Psalter.  Psalm  xviii.  has  been  by  many  assigned 
to  him  with  considerable  confidence  because  of  the 
support  it  is  thought  to  receive  from  its  appearance 
in  a  historical  book  ;  but  besides  the  fact  that  this 
support,  as  we  have  seen,  is  slender,  the  psalm  can 
hardly,  at  least  in  its  present  form,  have  come  from 
David.  The  superscription  assigns  it  to  a  later 
period  in  his  life  when  he  had  been  delivered  from 
all  his  enemies  ;  but  at  that  time  he  could  not  have 
looked  back  over  the  past,  stained  by  his  great  sin, 
with  the  complacency  which  marks  the  confession  in 
vv.  20-24.  Others  have  supposed  that  xxiv.  7-10, 
with  its  picture  of  the  entrance  of  Jehovah  through 
the  "  ancient  gates,'*  may  well  be  his.  It  may  be, 
if  the  gates  are  those  of  the  city  ;  but  if,  as  is  more 
probable,  they  are  the  temple  gates,  then  the 
psalm  must  be  long  after  the  time  of  Solomon.  In 
the  quest  for  Davidic  psalms  we  can  never  possibly 
rise  above  conjecture.  Later  ages  regarded  David 
as  the  father  of  sacred  song,  just  as  they  regarded 
Moses  as  the  author  of  Hebrew  law. 

There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  there 
are  pre-exilic  psalms  or  fragments  in  the  Psalter. 


Psalms  249 

From  Psalm  cxxxvii.  3,  4  we  may  safely  infer  that 
already,  by  the  time  of  the  exile,  there  were  songs 
of  Jehovah  or  songs  of  Zion.  We  cannot  tell  what 
these  songs  were  like  ;  but  when  we  remember  that 
for  nearly  two  centuries  before  the  exile  great 
prophets  had  been  working — and  we  cannot  suppose 
altogether  ineffectually,  for  they  had  disciples — it 
is  difficult  to  see  why,  granting  the  poetic  power 
which  the  Hebrew  had  from  the  earliest  times,  pious 
spirits  should  not  have  expressed  themselves  in 
sacred  song,  or  why  some  of  these  songs  may  not 
be  in  the  Psalter. 

We  appear  to  be  on  tolerably  sure  ground  in  at 
least  some  of  the  "royal"  psalms.  Doubtless  it  is 
often  very  hard  to  say,  as  in  Psalms  ii.,  lxxii., 
whether  the  king  is  a  historical  figure  or  the  Mes- 
sianic King  of  popular  yearning  ;  and  possibly  (cf . 
lxxii.)  a  psalm  which  originally  contemplated  a 
historical  king  may  have  been  in  later  times  altered 
or  amplified  to  fit  the  features  of  the  ideal  king. 
Other  psalms,  again  (e.g.,  lxxxix.,  cxxxii.),  clearly 
are  the  products  of  a  time  when  the  monarchy  is  no 
more.  But  there  remain  others,  expressing,  e.g.  a 
wish  for  the  king's  welfare  (xx.,  xxi.),  which  can  only 
be  naturally  referred  to  a  time  when  the  king  was 
on  the  throne.  It  is  not  absolutely  impossible  to 
refer  these  to  the  period  of  the  Hasmoneans,  who 
bore  the  title  from  the  end  of  the  second  century 
B.C.  ;  but  the  history  of  the  canon  renders  this 
supposition  extremely  improbable.  The  contents  of 
these  psalms  are  not  above  pre-exilic  possibility, 
and  their  position  in  the  first  book  would,  generally 
speaking,  be  in  favour  of  the  earlier  date.     Psalm 


250   Old  Testament   Introduction 

xlv.  also,  which  celebrates  the  marriage  of  a  king  to 
a  foreign  princess,  seems  almost  to  compel  a  pre- 
exilic  date. 

Some  scholars,  struck  by  the  resemblance  between 
many  of  the  sorrowful  psalms  and  the  poetry  of 
Jeremiah,  have  not  hesitated  to  ascribe  some  of  them 
to  him  (cf.  xl.  2).  Such  a  judgment  is  necessarily 
subjective,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Jere- 
miah powerfully  influenced  Hebrew  religious  poetry. 
The  Greek  superscriptions,  again,  which  assign  cer- 
tain psalms  to  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  though  doubt- 
less unreliable,  are  of  interest  in  suggesting  the 
liturgical  importance  of  the  period  following  the 
return  from  the  exile.  This  period  seems  to  have  pro- 
duced several  psalms.  Psalm  cxxvi.,  with  its  curi- 
ously complex  feeling,  apparently  reflects  the  situ- 
ation of  that  period,  and  the  group  of  psalms  which 
proclaim  Jehovah  as  King,  and  ring  with  the  notes 
of  a  "  new  song,"  were  probably  composed  to  cele- 
brate the  joy  of  the  return  and  the  resumption  of 
public  worship  in  the  temple  (xciii.,  xcv.-c.,  cf. 
xcvi.  1).  The  history  of  the  next  three  centuries  is 
very  obscure,  and  many  a  psalm  which  we  cannot 
locate  may  belong  to  that  period  ;  but  the  psalms 
which  celebrate  the  law  (i.,  xix.  7m,  cxix.)  no  doubt 
follow  the  reformation  of  Ezra  in  the  fifth  century. 

It  is  not  probable  that  there  are  many,  if  any, 
psalms  later  than  170-165  B.C.  in  the  Maccabean 
period ;  some  deny  even  this  possibility,  basing 
their  denial  on  the  history  of  the  canon.  But  if  the 
book  of  Daniel,  which  belongs  to  this  same  period, 
was  admitted  to  the  canon,  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  same  honour  should  not  have  been  conferred 


Psalms  251 

upon  some  of  the  psalms.  The  Maccabean  period 
was  fitted,  almost  more  than  any  other  in  Israel's 
history,  to  rouse  the  religious  passion  of  the  people 
to  song  ;  and,  as  the  possibility  must  be  conceded, 
the  question  becomes  one  of  exegesis.  Exegetically 
considered,  the  claims  of  at  least  Psalms  xliv.,  lxxiv., 
lxxix.,  lxxxiii.  are  indubitable.  They  speak  of  a 
desolation  of  the  temple  in  spite  of  a  punctilious 
fulfilment  of  the  law,  a  religious  persecution,  a 
slaughter  of  the  saints,  a  blasphemy  of  the  holy 
name.  No  situation  fits  these  circumstances  so 
completely  as  the  persecution  of  the  Jews  by 
Antiochus  Epiphanes  in  168  B.C.,  and  these  psalms 
betray  many  remarkable  affinities  with  passages  in 
the  first  book  of  the  Maccabees.  As  long  ago  as  the 
fifth  century  a.d.  the  sharp-sighted  Theodore  of 
Mopsuestia  believed  that  there  were  seventeen 
Maccabean  psalms  ;  Calvin  admitted  at  least  three. 
It  may  be  safely  concluded,  then,  that  the  Psalter 
brings  us  within  about  a  century  and  a  half  of  the 
Christian  era. 

The  criteria  for  determining  the  date  of  a  psalm 
are  few  and  meagre.  The  Psalter  expresses  the 
piety  of  more  than  half  a  millennium,  and  even  the 
century  cannot  always  be  fixed.  The  language  is 
often  general,  and  the  thoughts  uttered  would  be  as 
possible  and  appropriate  to  one  century  as  another. 
Nearly  forty  years  ago  Noldeke  maintained  that 
there  were  psalms  of  which  we  could  not  say  with 
any  definiteness  to  what  period  they  belonged  be- 
tween 900  and  160  B.C.  He  himself  referred  Psalm 
ii.  to  Solomon,  which  had  been  referred  by  Hitzig  to 
Alexander  Jannaeus  (105-78  B.C.).     Even  where  the 


2  52    Old  Testament   Introduction 

historical  implications  may  seem  fairly  certain, 
there  may  be  more  than  one  legitimate  interpreta- 
tion. Psalm  xlvi.,  e.g.,  which  is  usually  regarded  as 
a  song  of  triumph  sung  after  the  departure  of 
Sennacherib,  is  by  some  interpreted  eschatologically  ; 
Zion  is  the  ideal  Zion  of  the  latter  days,  and  the 
stream  that  makes  her  glad  is  the  stream  of  Para- 
dise. Some  psalms,  of  course,  have  their  origin 
stamped  very  legibly  upon  them.  Psalm  cxxxvii. 
e.g.,  clearly  implies  that  the  exile  is  not  long  over. 
The  presence  of  Aramaisms  in  a  psalm  is  a  fairly 
sure  indication  of  a  relatively  late  date.  Within 
certain  limits,  also,  its  theological  ideas  may  be  a 
guide,  though  we  know  too  little  of  the  history  of 
these  ideas  to  use  this  criterion  with  much  con- 
fidence. Still,  so  elaborate  an  emphasis  on  the 
omnipresence  of  God  as  we  find  in  Psalm  cxxxix.  is 
only  possible  to  a  later  age,  and  this  inference  is 
more  than  confirmed  by  its  highly  Aramaic  flavour. 
Both,  these  considerations  render  its  ascription  to 
David  utterly  untenable. 

The  question  was  raised  long  ago  and  has  been 
much  discussed  in  recent  times,  whether  the  subject 
of  the  Psalter  is  the  individual  or  the  church  ;  and 
till  very  recently  the  opinion  has  been  gaining  ground 
that  the  experience  and  aspiration  of  the  Psalter  are 
not  personal  and  individual,  but  that  in  it  is  heard 
the  collective  voice  of  the  church.  Many  difficulties 
undoubtedly  disappear  or  are  lessened  on  this  inter- 
pretation, e.g.,  the  bitterness  of  the  imprecatory 
psalms,  or  the  far-reaching  consequences  attached 
in  other  psalms  (cf.  xxii.,  xl.)  to  the  deliverance  of 
the  singer.     Till  the  exile,  the  religious  unit  was  the 


Psalms  253 

nation,  and  the  collective  use  of  the  singular  pro- 
noun is  one  of  the  commonest  phenomena  in  Hebrew 
literature.  The  Decalogue  is  addressed  to  Israel 
in  the  2nd  pers.  sing.,  in  Deuteronomy  the  2nd  pers. 
sing,  alternates  with  the  pi.,  in  the  priestly  blessing 
(Num.  vi.  24ff.)  Israel  is  blessed  in  the  singular. 
In  Deutero-Isaiah,  the  servant  of  Jehovah  is  un- 
doubtedly to  be  interpreted  collectively,  and  in 
many  of  the  psalms  the  collective  interpretation  is 
put  beyond  all  doubt  by  the  very  explicit  language 
of  the  context  : 

Much  have  they  afflicted  me  from  my  youth  up, 
Let  Israel  now  say,  cxxix.  1. 

All  this  is  true,  and  there  are  probably  more  col- 
lective psalms  in  the  Psalter  than  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  believe.  But  it  would  be  ridiculous 
to  suppose  that  every  psalm  has  to  be  so  interpreted. 
vSome  of  the  psalms  were  originally  written  without 
any  view  to  the  temple  service,  and  they  must  have 
expressed  the  individual  emotion  of  the  singer.1 
Besides,  Jeremiah  had  shown  or  at  least  suggested 
that  the  real  unit  was  the  individual ;  the  teaching 
of  Ezekiel  and  the  book  of  Job  are  proof  that  the 
lesson  had  been  well  learned  ;  and,  although  the 
post-exilic  church  may  have  felt  its  solidarity  and 
realized  its  corporate  consciousness  as  acutely  as 
the  pre-exilic  nation,  the  individual,  as  a  religious 
unit,  could  never  again  be  forgotten.  He  had  come 
to  stay  ;  and  if,  in  many  psalms,  the  general  voice  of 

1  That  Psalms,  now  collective,  were  originally  individual,  and 
subsequently  altered  and  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  community 
is  seen,  e.g.,  in  the  occasional  disturbance  of  the  order  in  alpha- 
betical psalms  (ix.,  x.). 


254   O^   Testament  Introduction 

the  church  is  heard,  it  is  equally  certain  that  many 
others  utter  the  emotions  and  experiences  of  indi- 
vidual singers. 

The  Psalter,  or  part  of  it,  was  used  in  the  temple 
service  1 — witness  the  numerous  musical  and  litur- 
gical superscriptions  (cf.  superscr.  of  Ps.  xcii.) — 
though  the  people  probably  did  no  more  than  sing 
or  utter  the  responses  (cvi.  48).  It  would  be  dim- 
cult  to  estimate  the  importance  of  the  Psalter  to  the 
Old  Testament  Church.  It  was  the  support  of  piety 
as  well  as  the  expression  of  it ;  and,  to  a  worship 
which  laid  so  much  stress  upon  punctilious  ritual 
and  animal  sacrifice,  the  Psalter,  with  its  austere 
spiritual  tone,  its  simple  passion  for  God,  and  its 
bracing  sense  of  fellowship  with  the  Eternal,  would 
come  as  a  wholesome  corrective.  Almost  in  the 
spirit  of  the  older  prophets  (Hos.  vi.  6)  animal  sacri- 
fice is  relegated  to  an  altogether  subordinate  place 
(xl.,  1.,  li.),  if  it  is  not  indeed  rebuked  :  the  sacrifice 
dear  to  God  is  a  broken  spirit.  Thus  the  Psalter 
was  a  mighty  contribution  in  one  direction,  as  the 
synagogue  in  another,  to  the  development  of  spiritual 
religion.  It  kept  alive  the  prophetic  element  in 
Israel's  religion,  and  did  much  to  counteract  the 
more  blighting  influences  of  Judaism.  The  place  of 
the  law  is  occasionally  recognized  (i.,xix.  jfi.),  once 
very  emphatically  (cxix.),  but  it  is  honoured  chiefly 
for  its  moral  stimulus.  It  is  not,  as  in  later  times, 
an  incubus  ;   it  is  still  an  inspiration. 

1  The  addition  of  the  last  verse  to  the  alphabetic  psalms, 
xxv.  and  xxxiv.,  adapts  these  psalms,  whether  originally  indi- 
vidual or  collective,  to  the  temple  service. 


Psalms  255 

There  are  tempers  in  the  Psalter  which  are  any- 
thing but  lovely — hatred  of  enemies,  protestation  of 
self -righteousness,  and  other  utterances  which  prevent 
it  from  being,  in  its  entirety,  the  hymn-book  of  the 
Christian  Church.     Historically  these  things  are  ex- 
plicable and  perhaps  inevitable,  but  the  glory  of  the 
Psalter  is  its  overwhelming  sense  of  the  reality  of 
God.     The  men  who  wrote  it  counted  God  their 
Friend  ;    and  although  they  never  forgot  that  He 
was  the  infinite  One,  whose  home  is  the  universe  and 
who  fills  the  vast  spaces  of  history  with  His  faith- 
fulness and  His  justice,  He  was  also  to  them  the 
patient  and  loving  One,  who  preserves  both  man 
and  beast,  under  the  shadow  of  whose  wings  the 
children  of  men  may  rest  with  quietness  and  con- 
fidence, and  before  whom  they  could  pour  out   the 
deepest  thoughts  and  petitions  of   their  hearts,  in 
the  assurance  that  He  was  the  hearer  of  prayer,  and 
that  His  tender  mercies  were  over  all  His  works. 
He  was  to  them  the  source  of  all  strength  and  con- 
solation and  vision.     In  His  light  they  saw  light ; 
and  in  their  noblest  moments — whatever  they  might 
lose  or  suffer — with  Him  they  were  content.     In 
Luther's  fine  paraphrase  of  Psalm  lxxiii.  25,  "If  I 
have  but  Thee,  I  ask  for  nothing  in  heaven  or  earth." 


Proverbs 

Many  specimens  of  the  so-called  Wisdom  Literature 
are  preserved  for  us  in  the  book  of  Proverbs,  for  its 
contents  are  by  no  means  confined  to  what  we  call 
proverbs.  The  first  nine  chapters  constitute  a  con- 
tinuous discourse,  almost  in  the  manner  of  a  ser- 
mon ;  and  of  the  last  two  chapters,  ch.  xxx.  is  largely 
made  up  of  enigmas,  and  xxxi.  is  in  part  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  good  housewife. 

All,  however,  are  rightly  subsumed  under  the 
idea  of  wisdom,  which  to  the  Hebrew  had  always 
moral  relations.  The  Hebrew  wise  man  seldom  or 
never  gave  himself  to  abstract  speculation  ;  he  dealt 
with  issues  raised  by  practical  life.  Wise  men  are 
spoken  of  almost  as  an  organized  guild,  and  co- 
ordinated with  priests  and  prophets  as  early  as  the 
time  of  Jeremiah  (xviii.  18),  but  the  general  impres- 
sion made  by  the  pre-exilic  references  to  the  wise 
men  is  that  they  exercised  certain  quasi-political 
functions,  and  hardly  correspond  to  the  wise  men  of 
later  times  who  discussed  issues  of  the  moral  life  and 
devoted  themselves  to  the  instruction  of  young 
men  (Prov.  i.  4,  8). 

Most  of  the  important  types  of  thought  of  the 
wise  men  are  represented  in  the  book  of  Proverbs. 
There  are  proverbs  proper,  a  few  of  the  popular  kind, 

266 


Proverbs  257 

but  most  of  them  bearing  the  stamp  of  deliberate 
art,  and  dealing  with  the  prudent  conduct  of  life 
(x.-xxix.)  ;  there  are  speculations  of  a  more  general 
kind  on  the  nature  of  that  wisdom  which  is  the  guide 
of  life  (i.-ix.)  ;  and  there  is  scepticism  (cf.  Eccles.) 
represented  by  the  words  of  Agur  (xxx.  1-4).  The 
book,  as  a  whole,  might  be  described  as  a  guide  to 
the  happy  life,  or,  we  might  almost  say,  to  the  suc- 
cessful life — for  a  certain  not  ignoble  utilitarianism 
clings  to  many  of  its  precepts.  The  world  is  recog- 
nized as  a  moral  and  orderly  world,  and  wisdom  is 
profitable  unto  all  things.  The  wisdom  which  the 
wise  man  manifests  in  contact  with  life  and  its 
exigencies  is  but  a  counterpart  of  the  divine  wisdom 
which,  in  one  noble  passage,  is  the  fellow  of  God  and 
more  ancient  than  creation  (viii.). 

There  is  not  a  little  literary  power  in  the  book. 
Very  beautiful  is  Wisdom's  appeal  to  the  sons  of 
men,  and  her  invitation  to  the  banquet  (viii.,  ix.). 
The  isolated  proverbs  in  x.-xxix.  are  usually  more 
terse  and  powerful  than  they  appear  in  the  English 
translation.     There  are  flashes  of  humour  too  : 

As  a  ring  of  gold  in  a  swine's  snout, 

So  is  a  fair  woman  without  discretion,  xi.  22. 

Withhold  not  correction  from  thy  son, 

Though  thou  smite  him  with  the  rod,  he  will  not  die,  xxiii.  13. 

They  deal  with  life  upon  its  average  levels  :  there  is 
nothing  of  the  prophetic  enthusiasm,  but  they  are 
robust  and  kindly  withal. 

Not  without  reason  has  the  book  been  called  "  a 
forest  of  proverbs,"  for  at  any  rate  in  the  body  of  it 
it  is  practically  impossible  to  detect  any  principle  of 
order.     Usually  the  sayings  in  x.-xxix.  are  discon- 

17 


258    Old  Testament   Introduction 

nected,  but  occasionally  kindred  sayings  are  gathered 
into  groups  of  two  or  more  verses  ;  and  sometimes 
it  would  seem  as  if  the  principle  of  arrangement  was 
alphabetic,  several  consecutive  verses  occasionally 
beginning  with  the  same  letter,  e.g.,  xx.  7-9,  xxii. 
2-4.     There  are  eight  divisions — 

(a)  i.-ix.  (of  which  i.  1-6  is  no  doubt  designed  as  an 
introduction  to  the  whole  book,  and  vi.  1-19  is  prob- 
ably an  interpolation)  :  an  impressive  appeal  to 
secure  wisdom  and  avoid  folly,  especially  when  she 
appears  in  the  guise  of  the  strange  woman.  Wis- 
dom's own  appeal  and  invitation. 

(b)  x.-xxii.  16.  A  series  of  very  loosely  connected 
proverbs  in  couplets,  x.-xv.  being  chiefly  antithetic 
(cf.  x.  1,  xv.  1)  and  xvi.  i-xxii.  16  chiefly  synthetic 
(cf.  xvi.  16). 

(c)  xxii.  17-xxiv.  22,  designated  as  "  the  words  of 
the  wise,"  containing  a  few  continuous  pieces  (cf. 
xxiii.  29-35  on  drunkenness)  and  addressed,  like 
i.-ix.,  to  "  my  son,"  cf.  xxiii.  15,  26. 

(d)  xxiv.  23-34,  probably  little  more  than  an 
appendix  to  (c),  and  also  containing  a  continuous 
piece  (cf.  vv.  30-34  on  sloth). 

(e)  xxv.-xxix.  A  series,  in  many  respects  re- 
sembling (b),  of  loosely  connected  sayings.  This 
section,  especially  xxv.-xxvii.,  contains  more  pro- 
verbs in  the  strict  sense,  i.e.  sayings  without  any 
specific  moral  bearing,  e.g.  xxv.  25. 

(/)  xxx.  The  words  of  Agur,  of  a  sceptical  and 
enigmatical  kind,  worked  over  by  an  orthodox 
reader  (cf.  vv.  5,  6,  which  reprove  vv.  2-4). 

(g)  xxxi.  1-9.  Words  addressed  to  king  Lemuel 
(whom  we  cannot  identify)  by  his  mother. 


Proverbs  259 

(h)  xxxi.  10-31.  An  alphabetic  poem  in  praise 
of  the  good  housewife. 

Clearly  the  book  makes  no  pretence  to  be,  as  a 
whole,  from  Solomon.  If  we  except  i.  1-6,  which  is 
introductory  to  the  whole  book,  only  (b)  and  (e)  are 
assigned  to  Solomon  :  the  other  sections — except  the 
last,  are  deliberately  assigned  to  others,  (c)  and  (d) 
expressly  to  "  the  wise."  The  ascription  of  the 
whole  book  to  Solomon,  which  seems  to  be  implied 
by  its  opening  verse,  and  which,  if  genuine,  would 
render  the  fresh  ascription  in  x.  i  unnecessary,  is  no 
doubt  to  be  explained  as  the  similar  ascription  of  the 
Psalms  to  David  or  the  legislation  to  Moses.  He 
was  the  "  wise  man  "  of  Hebrew  antiquity,  and  he 
is  expressly  said  in  i  Kings  iv.  32  to  have  spoken 
3,000  proverbs.  The  implication  of  that  passage 
(cf.  v.  33)  is  that  those  proverbs  consisted  of  com- 
parisons between  men  and  trees  or  animals  :  that 
supposition  is  met  by  some  (cf.  vi.  6)  but  not  by 
many  in  the  book.  There  are  not  likely  then  to  be 
many  of  his  proverbs  in  our  book  ;  but  not  impos- 
sibly there  may  be  some.  Ch.  xxv.  1  is  indeed  very 
explicit,  but  that  notice  is,  on  the  face  of  it,  late. 
The  fact  that  Hezekiah  is  called  not  simply  king, 
but  king  of  Judah,  seems  to  point  to  a  time — at  the 
earliest  the  exile — when  the  kingdom  of  Judah  was 
no  more  ;  so  that  this  notice  would  be  about  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  after  Hezekiah's  time,  and  Hezekiah 
is  more  than  two  centuries  after  Solomon.  Obvi- 
ously many  of  the  proverbs  in  x.-xxix.  could  not 
have  been  Solomon's.  The  advice  as  to  the  proper 
demeanour  in  the  presence  of  a  king  (xxv.  6,  7) 
would  not  come  very  naturally  from  one  who  was 


260   Old  Testament  Introduction 

himself  a  king  (cf.  xxiii.iff.) ;  nor,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  praises  of  monogamy,  would  he  be  likely  so  to 
satirize  his  own  government  as  he  would  do  in  xxix. 
4  :  "He  whose  exactions  are  excessive  ruins  the  land." 
The  question  may,  however,  be  fairly  raised 
whether  the  proverbs,  though  as  a  whole  not  Solo- 
monic, may  yet  be  pre-exilic  ;  and  here  two  ques- 
tions must  be  kept  apart — the  date  of  the  individual 
proverbs  and  the  date  of  the  collections  or  of  the 
book  as  a  whole.  Now  it  is  very  probable  that  some 
of  the  proverbs  are  pre-exilic.  The  references  to 
the  king,  e.g. — kindly  in  x-xxii.,  and  more  severe 
inxxv-xxix. — might  indeed  apply  to  the  Greek  period 
(fourth  and  third  centuries  B.C.),  but  are  equally  appli- 
cable to  the  pre-exilic  period ;  and  many  of  the  shrewd 
observations  on  life  might  come  equally  well  from 
any  period.  But  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
groups  in  their  present  form  are  post-exilic.  The 
sages  do  their  work  on  the  basis  of  the  achievements 
of  law  and  prophecy.1  The  great  prophetic  ideas 
about  God  are  not  discussed,  they  are  presupposed  ; 
while  the  "  law  "  of  xxviii.  4,  7,  9,  as  in  Psalm  cxix., 
appears  to  be  practically  equivalent  to  Scripture, 
and  would  point  to  the  fifth  century  at  the  earliest. 
True,  there  are  sayings  quite  in  the  old  prophetic 
spirit,  to  the  effect  that  character  is  more  acceptable 
to  God  than  ritual  and  sacrifice,  xxi.  3,  27,  xv.  8, 
xvi.  6  ;  but  this  would  be  an  equally  appropriate 
and  almost  more  necessary  warning  in  post-exilic 
times,  especially  upon  the  lips  of  men  whose  pro- 
fession was  in  part  that  of  moral  education. 

1  The  text  of   xxix.  18a   is  too  insecure  (cf.   Septuagint)  to 
justify  us  in  saying  that  prophecy  still  exists. 


Proverbs  261 

There  is  no  challenge  of  idolatry,  such  as  we 
should  expect  if  the  book  were  pre-exilic,  and  mono- 
gamy is  everywhere  presupposed.  Indeed  it  is  very 
remarkable  that  no  mention  is  made  of  Israel,  or 
of  any  institutions  distinctly  Israelitic.  Its  sub- 
ject is  not  the  nation,  but  the  individual,  and  its 
wisdom  is  cosmopolitan.  Now  though  this  appeal 
to  man  rather  than  Israel,  this  emphasis  on  the 
universal  conscience,  can  be  traced  as  far  back  as 
the  eighth  century  1  (Amos  iii.  9),  the  thorough- 
going application  of  it  in  Proverbs  suggests  a  larger 
experience  of.  international  relationships,  which 
could  hardly  be  placed  before  the  exile,  and  was  not 
truly  developed  till  long  after  it,  say,  in  the  Persian 
or  Greek  period.  This  is  peculiarly  true  of  chs.  i.-ix., 
which  was  probably  an  independent  piece,  prefixed 
tox.-xxix.,  to  gather  up  their  sporadic  elements  of 
wisdom  in  a  comprehensive  whole,  and  to  secure  an 
adequate  religious  basis  for  their  maxims  which 
were,  in  the  main,  ethical.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
suppose  that  the  personification  of  wisdom  in  ch.  viii. 
is  directly  influenced  by  Greek  philosophy,  but  the 
whole  speculative  manner  of  the  passage  points  to  a 
late,  even  if  independent,  development  of  Jewish 
thought.  The  last  two  chapters  are  probably  the 
latest  in  the  book,  which,  while  it  must  be  earlier 
than  Ben  Sirach  (180  B.C.),  who  distinctly  adapts  it, 
is  probably  not  earlier  than  300  B.C. 

The  value  of  this  much-neglected  book  is  very 
great.     It  is  easy  of  course  to  point  to  its  limitations 

1  Micah  vi.  8,  "  He  that  showed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good," 
is  also  a  saying  of  far-reaching  significance  in  this  connection. 


262    Old  Testament   Introduction 

— to  show  that  it  hardly,  if  ever  (ix.  18  ?)  looks  out 
upon  another  world,  but  confines  its  compensations 
and  its  penalties  to  this,  xi.  31,  or  to  discover 
utilitarian  elements  in  its  morality,  hi.  10,  or  me- 
chanical features  in  its  conception  of  life,  xvi.  31. 
But  it  would  be  easy  to  exaggerate.  The  sages 
know  very  well  that  a  good  name  is  better  than 
wealth,  xxii.  1,  and  that  the  deepest  success  of  life 
is  its  conformity  to  the  divine  wisdom  (i.-ix.). 
While  most  of  the  maxims  are  purely  ethical,  it  has 
to  be  remembered  that  to  the  Hebrew  morality 
rests  upon  religion  :  the  introductory  section  (i.-ix.) 
throws  its  influence  across  the  whole  book,  the  motto 
of  which  is  that  the  fear  of  Jehovah  is  the  basis  of 
knowledge  and  its  chief  constituent,  i.  7.  Besides, 
many  of  the  maxims  themselves  are  specifically 
religious,  e.g.,  "  He  that  oppresseth  the  poor  re- 
proacheth  his  Maker,"  xiv.  31,  "  He  that  hath  pity  on 
the  poor  lendeth  to  Jehovah,"  xix.  17.  On  the  more 
purely  moral  side,  besides  giving  a  welcome  glimpse 
into  ancient  Hebrew  society,  it  is  rich  in  applications 
to  modern  life.  Slander  and  revenge  are  severely 
denounced  ;  and  earnest  and  repeated  warnings  are 
lifted  up  in  different  parts  of  the  book  against  wine 
and  women  (v.,  xxiii.,  xxxi.).  Care  for  animals  is 
inculcated,  xii.  io,  and  love  to  enemies,  xxv.  21.,  in 
words  borrowed  by  the  New  Testament — a  notable 
advance  on  Leviticus  xix.  18. 

In  one  or  two  respects  the  book  is  of  peculiar 
interest  and  value  to  the  modern  world.  It  is  more 
interested,  e.g.,  in  practice  than  in  creed.  Its  creed 
is  very  simple,  little  more  than  a  general  fear  of 
Jehovah  ;    but  this  receives  endless  application  to 


Proverbs  263 

practical  life.  Again,  the  appeal  of  the  book  is,  on 
the  whole,  not  to  revelation,  but  to  experience,  and 
it  meets  the  average  man  and  woman  upon  their 
ordinary  level.  Its  appeal  is  therefore  one  which 
cannot  be  evaded,  as  it  commends  itself,  without  the 
support  of  revelation,  to  the  universal  moral  in- 
stincts of  mankind.  Again,  its  emphasis  upon  the 
moral,  as  opposed  to  the  speculative,  is  striking. 
Immediately  after  a  passage  which  approaches 
as  near  to  metaphysical  speculation  as  any 
Old  Testament  writer  ever  approaches,  viii. 
22-31,  comes  a  direct,  tender  and  personal  appeal. 
Lastly,  there  is  an  almost  modern  sense  of  the 
inexorableness  of  law  in  the  solemn  reminder 
that  those  who  refuse  and  despise  the  call  of 
wisdom  will  be  left  alone  and  helpless  when  their 
day  of  trouble  comes,  i.  22ff.  But  the  sternness  is 
mitigated  by  a  gentler  thought.  Like  a  gracious 
lady,  wisdom,  which  is  only  one  aspect  of  the  divine 
Providence,  pleads  with  ;men,  yearning  to  win  them 
from  their  folly  to  the  peace  and  happiness  which  are 
alone  with  her  ;  and  even  suffering  is  but  one  of  the 
ways  of  God,  a  confirmation  of  sonship,  and  even  a 
manifestation  of  His  love. 

Whom  Jehovah  loveth,  He  reproveth, 

Even  as  a  father  the  son  in  whom  he  delighteth,  iii.  12. 

This  is  perhaps  the  profoundest  note  in  the  book  of 
Proverbs.  A  book  so  rich  in  moral  precept  and  re- 
ligious thought  may  well  claim  to  have  fulfilled  its 
programme  :  "to  give  prudence  to  the  simple,  to  the 
young  man  knowledge  and  discretion,"  i.  4. 


Job 


The  book  of  Job  is  one  of  the  great  masterpieces  of 
the  world's  literature,  if  not  indeed  the  greatest. 
The  author  was  a  man  of  superb  literary  genius,  and 
of  rich,  daring,  and  original  mind.  The  problem 
with  which  he  deals  is  one  of  inexhaustible  interest, 
and  his  treatment  of  it  is  everywhere  characterized 
by  a  psychological  insight,  an  intellectual  courage, 
and  a  fertility  and  brilliance  of  resource  which  are 
nothing  less  than  astonishing.  Opinion  has  been 
divided  as  to  how  the  book  should  be  classified, 
whether  as  epic,  dramatic  or  didactic  poetry.  It  is 
didactic  at  any  rate  in  the  sense  that  the  poet,  who 
wrote  it  with  his  heart's  blood,  intended  to  read  his 
generation  a  much-needed  lesson  on  the  mysterious 
discipline  of  life  ;  and  it  is  dramatic,  though  not  in 
the  ordinary  sense — for  in  the  poetry  proper  there  is 
no  development  of  action — yet  in  the  sense  that  it 
vividly  pourtrays  the  conflict  of  minds,  and  the  clash 
of  conventional  with  independent  opinion. 

The  story  of  the  book  is  easily  told.  The  prologue 
(i.,  ii.)  introduces  Job  as  a  pattern  of  scrupulous 
piety,  and  therefore,  in  accordance  with  the  ancient 
view,  a  prosperous  man.  In  the  heavenly  council, 
the  Satan  insinuates  that,  if  the  prosperity  be 
withdrawn,  the  piety  will  also  disappear.     Jehovah, 


Job 


265 


sure  of  His  servant  Job,  grants  the  Satan  permission 
to  deprive  Job  of  all  that  he  has,  in  order  that  he 
may  discover  what  he  is.  Job  sustains  the  four 
fierce  blows,  which  stripped  him  of  all,  with  beautiful 
resignation.  The  Satan  is  foiled.  He  now  insinu- 
ates that  the  trial  has  not  been  severe  enough  :  only 
his  property  has  been  touched — not  his  person. 
With  Jehovah's  permission  a  second  assault  is  made, 
and  Job  is  smitten  with  the  incurable  and  loathsome 
disease  of  leprosy,  so  that  he  is  without  hope  in  the 
world.  He  has  nothing  but  God — will  God  be 
enough  ?  Again  Job  sustains  his  trial  in  noble  and 
ever-memorable  words  ;  and  the  Satan  is  foiled 
again.  Then  three  of  Job's  friends — great  sheikhs 
— come  to  express  their  sorrow. 

Then  follow  three  cycles  of  speeches  between  Job 
and  his  friends  (iiL-xiv.  ;   xv.-xxi.  ;   xxii.-xxxi). 

First  cycle.  Job  begins  by  lamenting  his  birthday 
and  longing  for  death  (iii. ).  Eliphaz,  a  man  of  age  and 
wisdom,  with  much  courtesy  and  by  an  appeal  to  a 
revelation  which  had  been  given  him  in  the  night, 
seeks  to  reconcile  Job  to  his  lot,  reminding  him  that 
no  mortal  man  can  be  pure  in  the  sight  of  God,  and 
assuring  him  of  restoration,  if  he  accepts  his  suffer- 
ing as  discipline  (iv.,  v.).  Job  rejects  this  easy  op- 
timism and  expresses  his  longing  for  a  speedy  death, 
as  life  on  the  earth  is  nothing  but  a  miserable  war- 
fare (vi.,  vii.).  Bildad,  annoyed  at  Job's  challenge 
of  God's  justice,  asserts  the  sure  destruction  of  evil- 
doers, but  implicitly  concedes,  at  the  end,  that  Job 
is  not  an  evil-doer,  by  promising  him  a  bright  future 
(viii.).  Job  then  grows  ironical.  Of  course,  he  says, 
God  is  always  in  the  right.      Might  is  right,  and 


266   Old  Testament   Introduction 

He  is  almighty,  destroying  innocent  and  guilty  alike. 
He  longs  to  meet  God,  and  to  know  why  He  so  mar- 
vellously treats  the  creature  He  so  marvellously 
made  (ix.,  x.).  Zophar  bluntly  condemns  Job's 
bold  words  and  urges  repentance,  but,  like  his  friends, 
foretells  the  dawn  of  a  better  day  for  Job,  though 
his  very  last  words  are  ominous  and  suggestive  of 
another  possibility  (xi.).  Job,  with  a  sarcastic 
compliment  to  the  wisdom  of  his  friends,  claims  the 
right  to  an  independent  judgment  and  challenges 
the  whole  moral  order  of  the  world.  Better  be 
honest — God  needs  no  man  to  distort  the  facts  for 
Him.  Job  longs  for  a  meeting,  in  which  God  will 
either  speak  to  him  or  listen  to  him.  But,  as  no  an- 
swer comes,  he  laments  again  the  pathos  of  life, 
which  ends  so  utterly  in  death  (xii.-xiv.). 

Second  cycle.  Eliphaz,  concluding  that  Job  de- 
spises religion,  describes  in  vigorous  terms  the  fate 
of  the  godless  (xv.).  Job  complains  of  his  fierce 
persecution  by  God,  and  appeals,  in  almost  the  same 
breath,  against  this  unintelligible  God  to  the  right- 
eous God  in  heaven,  who  is  his  witness  and  sponsor  ; 
but  again  he  falls  back  into  gloom  and  despondency 
(xvi.,  xvii.).  Bildad  answers  by  describing  the 
doom  of  the  wicked,  with  more  than  one  unmistak- 
able allusion  to  Job's  case  (xviii.).  Job  is  vexed. 
He  breaks  out  into  a  lament  of  his  utter  desolation, 
the  darkness  of  which,  however,  is  shot  through  with 
a  sudden  and  momentary  gleam  of  assurance  that 
God  will  one  day  vindicate  him  (xix.).  Not  so,  an- 
swers Zophar  :  the  triumph  of  the  wicked  is  short 
(xx.).  Job,  in  a  bold  and  terrible  speech,  assails  the 
doctrine  of  the  friends,  challenges  the  moral  order, 


job 


267 


and  asserts  that  the  world  is  turned  upside  down 
(xxi.). 

Third  cycle.  To  the  friends  Job  now  seems  to  be 
condemned  out  of  his  own  mouth,  and  Eliphaz  coolly 
proceeds  to  accuse  him  of  specific  sins  (xxii.).  This 
drives  Job  to  despair,  and  he  longs  to  appear  before 
the  God  whom  he  cannot  find,  to  plead  his  cause  be- 
fore Him.  Why  does  He  not  interpose  ?  and  again 
follows  a  fierce  challenge  of  the  moral  order  (xxiii., 
xxiv.).  The  arguments  of  the  friends  are  being 
gradually  exhausted,  and  Bildad  can  only  reply  by 
asserting  the  uncleanness  of  man  in  presence  of  the 
infinite  majesty  of  God  (xxv.,  xxvi.).  In  spite  of 
this  Job  asserts  his  integrity,  xxvii.  1-6.  Zophar 
repeats  the  old  doctrine  of  the  doom  of  the  wicked, 
xxvii.  7-23.  Then  Job  rises  up,  like  a  giant,  to 
make  his  last  great  defence.  He  pictures  his  former 
prosperity  and  his  present  misery,  and  ends,  in  a 
chapter  which  touches  the  noblest  heights  of  Old 
Testament  morality,  with  a  detailed  assertion  of  the 
principles  that  governed  his  conduct  and  character. 
With  one  great  cry  that  the  Almighty  would  listen 
to  him,  he  concludes  (xxix.-xxxi.). 

The  Almighty  does  listen ;  and  He  answers — not  by 
referring  to  Job's  particular  case,  still  less  to  his  sin, 
but  by  questions  that  suggest  to  Job  His  own  power, 
wisdom,  and  love,  and  the  ignorance  and  impotence 
of  man,  xxxviii.,  xxxix.,  xl.  2,  8-14.  Job  humbly 
recognizes  the  inadequacy  of  his  criticism  in  the 
light  of  this  vision  of  God,  xl.  3-5,  xlii.  2-6,  and  with 
this  the  poem  comes  to  an  end. 

The  epilogue,  xlii.  7-17,  in  prose,  describes  how 
Jehovah  severely  condemned  the  friends  for  the 


268    Old  Testament  Introduction 

words  they  had  spoken,  commended  His  servant  Job 
for  speaking  rightly  of  Him,  and  restored  him  to 
double  his  former  prosperity. 

It  is  obvious  that  we  have  here  a  religious  and  not 
a  philosophical  discussion.  Indeed  it  is  hardly  a 
discussion  at  all ;  for,  though  the  psychological  in- 
terest of  the  situation  is  heightened  by  every  speech, 
there  is  practically  no  development  in  the  argument. 
The  friends  grow  more  excited  and  unfair,  Job  grows 
more  calm  and  dignified  ;  but  so  far  as  argument  is 
concerned,  neither  he  nor  they  affect  each  other — 
the  author  meaning  to  suggest  by  this  perhaps  the 
futility  of  human  discussion. 

The  problem  of  the  book  of  Job  has  been  variously 
defined.  In  one  form  it  is  raised  by  the  question  of 
Satan,  i.  9,  "  Doth  Job  fear  God  for  naught  ?  " 
which  is  the  Hebrew  way  of  saying,  "  Is  there  such 
a  thing  as  disinterested  religion  ?  "  But  the  body 
of  the  book  discusses  the  problem  under  a  wider 
aspect  :  how  can  the  facts  of  human  life,  and  espe- 
cially the  sufferings  of  the  righteous,  be  reconciled 
with  the  justice  of  God  ?  With  delicate  skill  the 
author  has  suggested  that  this  problem  is  a  universal 
one  ;  not  Israel  alone  is  perplexed  by  it,  but  human- 
ity. To  indicate  this,  he  puts  his  hero  and  his  stage 
outside  the  land  of  Israel.  Job  is  a  foreign  saint, 
and  Uz  is  on  the  borders  of  the  Arabian  desert. 

The  ancient  theory  of  retribution  was  very  simple  : 
every  man  received  what  he  deserved — the  good 
prosperity,  the  bad  misfortune.  In  its  national 
application,  this  principle  was  obviously  more  or  less 
true,  but  every  age  must  have  seen  numerous  excep- 


Job 


269 


tions  in  the  life  of  the  individual.  The  exceptions, 
however,  were  not  felt  to  be  particularly  perplexing, 
because,  till  the  exile,  the  individual  was  hardly 
seriously  felt  to  be  a  religious  unit  :  his  personality 
was  merged  in  the  wider  life  of  the  tribe  or  nation. 
But  the  exile,  which  saw  many  of  the  best  men  suffer, 
forced  the  question  to  the  front  ;  and  the  explan- 
ation then  commonly  offered  was  that  they  were 
suffering  for  the  sins  of  the  fathers.  Ezekiel  denied 
this  and  maintained  that  the  individual  received  ex- 
actly what  he  deserved  (xviii.)  :  it  is  well  with  the 
righteous  and  ill  with  the  wicked.  The  friends  of 
Job  in  the  main  represent  this  doctrine,  Eliphaz 
appealing  to  revelation,  Bildad  to  tradition,  and 
Zophar  to  common  sense.  The  author  of  the  book 
of  Job  desires,  among  other  things,  to  expose  the  in- 
adequacy of  this  doctrine.  Job,  a  good  man — not 
only  on  his  own  confession  (xxxi.),  but  on  the  ex- 
press and  repeated  admission  of  God  Himself,  i.  8, 
ii.  3 — is  overwhelmed  with  calamities  which  cannot 
be  explained  by  the  imperfections  which  are  inherent 
in  all  men,  and  which  Job  himself  readily  admits 
vii.  21.  How  are  such  sufferings  to  be  reconciled 
with  the  justice  of  God  ? 

The  problem  had  to  be  solved  without  reference 
to  the  future  world.  To  a  steady  faith  in  immor- 
tality, which  can  find  its  compensations  otherwhere, 
there  is  no  real  problem  ;  but  it  is  certain  that, 
though  there  are  scattered  hints,  xiv.  13,  xix.  25ff. — 
which,  however,  many  interpret  differently — of  a 
life  after  death,  this  belief  is  not  held  by  Job  (or  by 
the  author)  tenaciously,  nor  offered  as  a  solution,  for 
the  lamentations  continue  to  the  end.     The  solution, 


270   Old  Testament  Introduction 

if  there  is  any,  the  author  must  find  in  this  world.  It 
would  seem  that  no  definite  solution  is  offered, 
though  there  are  not  a  few  profound  and  valuable 
suggestions. 

(1)  The  prologue,  e.g.,  suggests  that  the  sufferings 
of  earth  find  their  ultimate  explanation  in  the  coun- 
cils of  heaven.  What  is  done  or  suffered  here  is 
determined  there.  (2)  Again  the  prologue  suggests 
that  suffering  is  a  test  of  fidelity.  Job  has  proved 
his  essential  and  disinterested  goodness,  besides 
glorifying  the  name  of  the  God,  who  trusted  him,  by 
standing  fast.  (3)  The  friends  make  their  shallow 
and  conventional  contribution  to  the  solution  :  from 
the  doctrine — whose  strict  and  universal  truth  Job 
denied— that  sin  was  always  followed  by  suffering, 
they  inferred  the  still  more  questionable  doctrine 
that  suffering  was  punishment  for  sin.  In  estimat- 
ing the  views  of  the  friends,  it  should  never  be  for- 
gotten that  Jehovah,  in  the  epilogue,  condemns  them 
as  not  having  spoken  the  thing  that  is  right,  xlii. 
7,  8.  Of  course,  though  inadequate,  they  are  not 
always  absolutely  wrong  ;  and  Eliphaz  expresses  a 
truth  not  wholly  inapplicable  to  Job's  case — at  least 
to  the  Job  of  the  speeches — when  he  insists  on  the 
disciplinary  value  of  suffering,  v.  17  ff. 

(4)  If  a  real  solution  is  offered  anywhere,  one 
would  most  naturally  look  for  it  in  the  speeches  of 
Jehovah  (xxxviii.  ff.)  ;  and  at  first  sight  they  are  not 
very  promising.  Their  effect  would  most  naturally 
be  rather  to  silence  and  overwhelm  Job  than  to  con- 
vince him  ;  and  to  some  they  have  suggested  no  more 
than  that  the  contemplation  of  nature  may  be  a 
remedy  for  scepticism.  But  their  object  is  profounder 


Job 


271 


than  that.  By  heightening  the  sense  of  the  mystery 
of  the  universe,  they  show  Job  the  folly,  and  almost 
the  impertinence,  of  expecting  an  adequate  answer 
to  all  his  whys  and  wherefores.  A  man  who  cannot 
account  for  the  most  familiar  facts  of  the  physical 
world  is  not  likely  to  explore  the  subtler  mysteries 
of  the  moral  world.  But  there  is  more.  The  divine 
speeches  suggest  that  God  is  not  only  strong — Job 
knew  that  very  well  (ix.) — but  wise,  xxxviii.  2,  and 
kind,  feeding  even  the  ravenous  beasts,  xxxviii.  39, 
and  tenderly  caring  for  the  waste  and  desolate  place 
where  no  man  is,  xxxviii.  26.  The  universe  com- 
pels trust  in  the  wisdom  and  love  of  God.  (5)  The 
epilogue,  too,  shows  how  the  suffering  hero  was 
rewarded  and  vindicated.  The  reward  we  shall 
discuss  afterwards  ;  but  it  is  with  fine  instinct  that 
the  epilogue  represents  Job  as  a  man  so  powerful 
with  God  that  his  prayer  is  effectual  to  save  his  erring 
friends,  and  four  times  within  two  verses,  xlii.  7  f, 
Jehovah  calls  him  "  My  servant  Job."  Therein  lies 
his  real  vindication,  rather  than  in  the  reward  of  the 
sheep  and  the  oxen. 

The  book  clearly  intends  to  suggest  that  in  this 
world  it  is  vain  to  look  for  exact  retribution.  From 
calamity  it  is  unjust  to  infer  special  or  secret  sin  : 
the  worst  may  happen  to  the  best.  Again,  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  disinterested  goodness,  a  goodness 
which  believes  in  and  clings  to  God,  when  it  has  no- 
thing to  hope  for  but  Himself.  But  the  book  may 
also  be  fairly  regarded  as  a  protest  against  contem- 
porary theology  ;  and,  in  its  present  form,  at  any 
rate,  it  suggests  that  God  loves  the  independent 
thinker.     The  friends  are    orthodox,  but  shallow  : 


27  2    Old  Testament   Introduction 

"  Who  ever  perished,  being  innocent  ?  "  iv.  7.  They 
are  so  wedded  to  their  theories  that  even  the  oldest 
and  wisest  among  them  cruelly  invents  falsehoods  to 
support  them  (xxii.).  Job  replies  to  theories  by 
facts.  He  is  a  man  of  independent  observation  and 
judgment,  his  mouth  must  "  taste  for  itself,"  xii. 
11.  He  is  bold  sometimes  almost  to  blasphemy,  he 
accuses  God  of  destroying  innocent  and  guilty  alike, 
ix.  22,  and  does  not  scruple  to  parody  a  psalm,  vii. 
17  f.  Yet  he  does  this  because  he  must  be  true  to 
facts,  whatever  comes  of  theories  :  he  must  cling  to 
the  God  of  conscience  against  the  God  of  convention. 

In  discussing  the  scheme  of  the  book  and  the  solu- 
tion it  offers  of  the  problem  of  suffering,  we  have  not 
yet  taken  into  account  the  speeches  of  Elihu  (xxxii.- 
xxx vii.).  The  value  and  importance  of  these  have 
been  variously  estimated,  the  extremes  being  repre- 
sented by  Duhm,  who  characterizes  them  as  the 
childish  effusions  of  some  bombastic  rabbi,  and 
Cornill,  who  calls  them  "  the  crown  of  the  book  of 
Job."  It  is  not  without  good  reason  that  the 
authenticity  of  this  section  has  been  doubted.  After 
the  dramatic  appeal  at  the  close  of  Job's  splendid 
defence,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  Jehovah  ap- 
pears ;  and  when  He  does  appear  (xxxviii.),  His 
speech  is  expressly  said  to  be  an  answer  to  Job. 
Elihu  is  completely  ignored,  as  he  is  not  only  in  the 
prologue  but  also  in  the  epilogue,  xlii.  7.  The  latter 
omission  would  be  especially  strange,  if  he  is  integral 
to  the  book.  As  his  speech  is  not  condemned,  it  is 
natural  to  infer  from  the  silence  that  it  is  implicitly 
commended.  In  that  case,  however,  we  have  two  solu- 


Job 


273 


tions — the  Elihu  speeches  and  the  Jehovah  speeches. 
But  there  is  practically  nothing  new  in  the  Elihu 
speeches  :  in  emphasizing  the  greatness  of  God,  they 
but  anticipate  the  Jehovah  speeches,  and  in  empha- 
sizing the  disciplinary  value  of  chastisement,  they 
but  amplify  the  point  already  made  by  Eliphaz  in  v. 
I7ff.,  and  most  summarily  expressed  in  xxxvi.  15. 
Almost  the  only  other  assertion  made  is  that,  as 
against  Job's  contention,  God  does  speak  to  men — 
through  dreams,  sickness,  angels,  etc.  The  lengthy 
description  in  which  Elihu  is  introduced,  and  the 
mention  of  his  genealogy,  are  very  unlike  the  other 
introductions.  The  literary  art  of  the  section  is, 
speaking  generally,  inferior  to  that  of  the  rest  of  the 
book.  It  is  imitative  rather  than  creative.  Elihu 
takes  about  twenty  verses  to  announce  the  simple 
fact  that  he  is  going  to  speak,  though  there  might  be 
a  dramatic  propriety  in  this,  as  he  is  represented  as 
a  young  man.  Further,  the  language  is  more  Ara- 
maic than  the  rest  of  the  book.  Cornill,  however, 
defends  the  section  as  offering  the  real  solution  of 
the  problem.  "  If  a  man  recognizes  the  educative 
character  of  suffering  and  takes  it  to  heart,  the  suffer- 
ing becomes  for  him  a  source  of  infinite  blessing,  the 
highest  manifestation  of  divine  love."  But  it 
seems  rather  improbable  that  the  true  solution 
should  be  put  into  the  lips  of  a  young  man,  who  said 
he  was  ready  to  burst  if  he  did  not  deliver  himself  of 
his  speech,  xxxii.  19.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  it  is 
more  natural  to  look  for  the  solution  in  the  speeches 
of  Jehovah,  and  that  the  Elihu  speeches,  in  condemn- 
ing Job,  disagree  with^the  epilogue,  which  commends 
him,  the  arguments  against  their  authenticity  seem 

18 


274   Old  Testament   Introduction 

much  more  than  to  counterbalance  the  little  that 
can  be  said  in  their  favour  ;  and  in  all  probability 
they  are  an  orthodox  addition  to  the  book  from  the 
pen  of  some  later  scholar  who  was  offended  by  Job's 
accusations  of  God  and  protestations  of  his  own 
innocence. 

The  authenticity  of  the  prologue  and  epilogue  has 
also  been  questioned,  some  scholars  asserting  that 
they  really  form  the  beginning  and  end  of  an  older 
(pre-exilic)  book  of  Job,  the  body  of  which  was  re- 
placed by  the  speeches  in  our  present  book.  The 
question  is  far  from  unimportant,  as  on  it  depends, 
in  part,  our  conception  of  the  purpose  of  the  author 
of  the  speeches.  Against  the  idea  that  the  prologue 
and  epilogue  are  from  his  hand  are  these  consider- 
ations. They  are  in  prose,  while  the  body  of  the 
book  is  in  verse.  Again,  the  name  of  God  in  the 
prologue  and  epilogue  is  Jehovah  ;  elsewhere,  with 
one  exception,  which  is  probably  an  interpolation, 
xii.  9,  it  is  El,  Eloah,  Shaddai,  as  if  Jehovah  were 
purposely  avoided.1  In  xix.  lyb,  where  the  true 
translation  is  "  Mine  evil  savour  is  strange  to  the 
sons  of  my  body,"  the  children  are  regarded  as 
living  :  2  while  in  the  prologue  they  are  dead.  But 
more  serious  is  the  fact  that  the  Job  of  the  prologue 
seems  to  differ  fundamentally  from  the  Job  of  the 
speeches.  The  former  is  patient,  submissive,  re- 
signed ;  the  latter  is  impatient,  bitter,  and  even 
defiant.     Further,  the  epilogue  represents  Jehovah 

1  Ch.  xxxviii.  i,  being  introductory  to  the  speeches  of  Jehovah, 
should  hardly  be  counted. 

2  See,  however,  viii.  4,  xxix.  5,  so  that  xix.  lyb  may  be  due  to 
forgetfulness.  ^  ^ 


Job 


275 


as  commending  Job  and  condemning  the  friends 
without  qualification,  whereas  it  may  be  urged  that, 
in  the  course  of  the  speeches,  the  friends  were  not 
always  wrong,  nor  was  Job  always  right,  and  that 
it  is  impossible  that  his  merciless  criticisms  of  the 
moral  order  could  have  passed  without  divine  re- 
buke :  much  that  Job  said  would  have  delighted 
the  Satan  of  the  prologue.  These  considerations 
have  led  to  the  supposition  that,  in  the  original  book, 
Job  maintained  throughout  the  spirit  of  devout 
resignation  which  he  showed  in  the  prologue,  while 
it  was  the  friends  who  accused  God  of  cruelty  and 
injustice.  A  bolder  and  profounder  thinker  of  a  later 
age  attacked  the  problem  independently  on  the 
basis  of  the  old  story,  and  inserted  his  contribution, 
iii.-xlii.  6,  between  the  prologue  and  the  epilogue, 
thus  giving  a  totally  different  turn  to  the  story. 

This  view  is  ingenious,  but  does  not  seem  neces- 
sary. Psychologically,  there  is  no  necessary  incom- 
patibility between  the  Job  of  the  prologue  and  the 
Job  of  the  speeches.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
months  have  elapsed  between  the  original  blow  and 
the  lamentations,  vii.  3 — months  in  which  the 
brooding  mind  of  the  sufferer  has  had  time  to  pass 
from  resignation  to  perplexity,  and  almost  to  de- 
spair. Again,  the  words  of  Job  are  not  to  be  taken 
too  seriously  ;  they  are,  as  he  says  himself,  the 
words  of  a  desperate  man,  vi.  26,  and  the  commen- 
dation in  the  epilogue  may  be  taken  to  apply  rather 
to  his  general  attitude  than  to  his  particular  utter- 
ances. Some  kind  of  introduction  there  must  un- 
doubtedly have  been  ;  otherwise  the  speeches,  and 
especially  Job's  repeated  asseverations  of  his  inno- 


276   Old   Testament   Introduction 

cence,  are  unintelligible.  The  literary  power  and 
skill  of  the  prologue  is  as  great  as  that  of  the  speeches : 
dramatically,  the  swift  contrast  between  the  happy 
family  upon  the  earth  and  the  council  of  gods  in 
heaven,  or  the  rapid  succession  of  blows  that  rained 
upon  Job  the  moment  that  Satan  "  went  forth  from 
the  presence  of  Jehovah,"  is  as  effective  as  the 
psychological  surprises  in  which  the  book  abounds. 
The  language  is  slightly  in  favour  of  a  post-exilic 
date,  and  the  conception  of  Satan  appears  to  be  some- 
what in  advance  of  Zechariah  iii.  1  (520  B.C.).  On 
the  whole  it  seems  fair  to  conclude  that  the  great 
poet  who  composed  the  speeches  also  wrote  the  pro- 
logue, though  of  course  his  material  lay  to  hand  in 
a  popular,  and  not  improbably  written  story. 

With  the  prologue  must  go  at  least  part  of  the 
epilogue,  xlii.  7-9  ;  for  the  author's  purpose  is  to 
characterize  the  two  types  of  thought  represented 
by  the  discussion  and  to  vindicate  Job.  More  doubt 
may  attach  to  the  concluding  section,  w.  10-17, 
which  represents  that  vindication  as  taking  the  form 
of  a  material  reward.  A  Western  reader  is  sur- 
prised and  disappointed  :  to  him  it  seems  that  the 
author  has  "  fallen  from  his  high  estate,"  and  has 
failed  to  be  convinced  by  his  own  magnificent  argu- 
ment. But,  as  we  have  already  said,  the  real  vin- 
dication of  Job  is  the  eificacy  of  his  prayer,  and  the 
material  reward  is;  in  any  case,  not  much  more  than 
a  sort  of  poetic  justice.  It  is  indeed  an  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  the  relation  subsisting  between 
Job  and  his  God  ;  but  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  the 
genius  who  fought  his  way  to  such  a  solution  as 
appears  in  xxxviii.,  xxxix.,  would  himself  have  laid 


Job 


277 


much  stress  upon  it.  Yet  it  is  not  inappropriate  or 
irrelevant.  Job's  sufferings  had  their  origin  in 
Satan's  denial  of  his  integrity  ;  and  now  that  Satan 
has  been  convinced — for  Job  clings  in  the  deepest 
darkness  to  the  God  of  his  conscience — it  is  only  just 
that  he  should  be  restored  to  his  former  state. 

It  is  not  certain  that  ch.  xxviii.  with  its  fine  descrip- 
tion of  wisdom,  which  is  neither  to  be  found  in  mine 
nor  mart,  is  original  to  the  book.  It  does  not  con- 
nect well  either  with  the  preceding  or  the  following 
chapter.  The  serenity  that  breathes  through  ch. 
xxviii.  would  not  naturally  be  followed  by  the  re- 
newed lamentations  of  xxix.,  and  it  would  further 
be  dramatically  inappropriate  for  a  man  in  agony 
to  speak  thus  didactically.  It  is  a  sort  of  com- 
panion piece  to  Proverbs  viii.  ;  it  is  too  abstract  for 
its  context,  and  lacks  its  almost  fierce  emotion. 

Doubt  also  attaches  to  the  sections  descriptive  of 
the  hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile,  xl.  15-xli.  The 
defence  is  that,  as  the  earlier  speeches  of  God, 
xxxviii.  xxxix.,  were  to  convince  Job  of  his  ignor- 
ance, so  these  are  to  convince  him  of  his  impotence. 
But  the  descriptions,  though  fine  in  their  way  (cf. 
xli.  22),  do  not  stand  on  the  same  literary  level  as 
those  of  xxxviii.,  xxxix.  These  are  brief  and  drawn 
to  the  life — how  vivid  are  the  pictures  of  the  war- 
horse  and  the  wild  ass  ! — those  of  xl.,  xli.  are  diffuse 
and  somewhat  exaggerated.  Of  course  Oriental 
standards  of  taste  are  not  ours  ;  still  the  difference 
can  hardly  be  ignored.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  too, 
that  the  word  leviathan  in  xli.  1  is  used  in  a  totally 
different  sense  from  iii.  8,  where  it  is  the  mytholo- 
gical (sea  ?)  dragon.      The  author  appears  to  have 


278    Old  Testament   Introduction 

travelled  widely  and  the  book  betrays  a  knowledge  of 
Egypt  (cf.  pyramids,  iii.  14  ;  papyrus,  viii.  n  ;  reed 
ships,  ix.  26  ;  phoenix,  xxix.  18),  but  it  is  not  with- 
out significance  that  all  his  other  animal  pictures 
are  drawn  from  the  desert — the  lion  (iv.),  the  wild 
ass,  the  war-horse.  On  the  whole,  it  is  hardly  pro- 
bable that  these  long  descriptions,  rather  unneces- 
sarily retarding,  as  they  do,  the  crisis  between 
Jehovah  and  Job  for  which  the  sympathetic  reader 
is  impatiently  waiting,  are  original  to  the  book. 

Certain  redistributions  of  the  speeches  seem  to  be 
necessary.  Ch.  xxvi.  is  conceived  in  a  temper 
thoroughly  unlike  that  of  Job  at  this  stage,  while  it 
closely  resembles  that  of  xxv.  As  ch.  xxv.  would 
be  an  unusually  short  speech,  it  is  probable  that  xxv. 
and  xxvi.  should  both  be  given  to  Bildad.  That 
there  is  something  wrong  is  plain  from  the  fresh  in- 
troduction to  xxvii.  1  (cf.  xxix.  1),  a  phenomenon 
which  does  not  elsewhere  occur  and  which,  if  xxvi. 
is  Job's,  should  be  unnecessary.  Again  in  xxvii. 
7-23  Job  turns  completely  round  upon  his  own 
position  and  adopts  that  of  the  friends.  It  has  been 
said  that  he  "  forgets  himself  sufficiently  in  ch.  xxvii. 
to  deliver  a  discourse  which  would  have  been  suit- 
able in  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  friends."  Surely 
such  an  explanation  is  as  impossible  as  it  is  psycho- 
logically unnatural :  in  all  probability  vv.  7-23 
ought  to  be  given  to  Zophar — the  more  probably  as 
xxvii.  13  is  very  like  xx.  19,  which  is  Zophar's.  This 
would  have  the  further  advantage  of  accounting  for 
the  fresh  introduction  to  xxix.  (especially  if  we  allow 
xxviii.  to  be  a  later  addition). 
I  Probably  xxxi.  38-40,  which  constitute,  at  least 


Job 


279 


to  an  Occidental  taste,  an  anticlimax  in  their  present 
position,  should  be  placed  after  v.  32,  and  xl.  3-5 
(followed  by  xlii.  2-6)  after  xl.  6-14. 

The  date  of  the  book  of  Job  is  not  easy  to  deter- 
mine. Ch.  xii.  17  shows  a  knowledge  of  the  dethrone- 
ment of  kings  and  the  exile  of  priests  and  nobles 
which  compels  a  date  at  any  rate  later  than  the  fall 
of  the  northern  kingdom  (721  B.C.)  more  probably 
also  of  the  southern.  The  reference  in  Ezekiel,  xiv. 
14,  20,  to  Job  should  not  be  pressed,  as  it  involves 
only  a  knowledge  of  the  man,  not  necessarily  of  any 
book,  still  less  of  our  book.  Nor  can  much  be  made 
of  the  parody  of  Psalm  viii.  4  in  Job  vii.  17,  as  we 
have  no  means  of  fixing  precisely  the  date  of  the 
psalm.  Job's  lament  and  curse  in  ch.  iii.  are  strik- 
ingly similar  to  Jeremiah  xx.  14-18,  and  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  the  priority  lies  on  the  side  of  the 
prophet.  Jeremiah  was  in  no  mood  for  quotation, 
his  words  are  brief  and  abrupt.  The  book  of  Job  is 
a  highly  artistic  poem,  and  it  is  much  more  probable 
that  Job  iii.  is  an  elaboration  of  the  passionate  words 
of  Jeremiah  than  that  Jeremiah  adapted  in  his 
sorrow  the  longer  lament  of  Job.  This  circumstance 
would  bring  us  down  to  a  time,  at  the  earliest,  very 
near  the  exile. 

At  this  point  it  has  to  be  noted  that  the  discussion 
of  the  moral  problem  in  the  book  of  Job  is  in  advance 
of  Jeremiah  or  Ezekiel.  Against  the  explanation 
that  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge  because 
their  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  Ezekiel  has 
nothing  to  offer  but  a  rather  mechanical  doctrine  of 
strict  retribution  (ch.  xviii.).     The  book  of  Job  re- 


280   Old  Testament   Introduction 

presents  a  further  stage,  when  that  doctrine  was 
seen  to  be  untenable  ;  and  the  whole  question  is 
again  boldly  raised  and  still  more  boldly  discussed. 
This  would  carry  the  date  below  Ezekiel.  As  the 
problem  in  Job  is  individual,  and  only  indirectly,  if 
at  all,  a  national  one — "  there  was  a  man  in  the  land 
of  Uz  " — the  book  cannot  be  earlier  than  the  exile. 

But  further,  there  is  an  unmistakable  similarity 
between  the  temper  of  this  book  and  that  of  the 
pious  in  the  time  of  Malachi.  "  Every  one  that 
doeth  evil  is  good  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah,  and  He 
delighteth  in  them.  Where  is  the  God  of  justice  ?  " 
Malachi  ii.  17.  We  might  fancy  we  heard  the  voice 
of  Job  ;  and  almost  more  plainly  in  Malachi  iii.  14, 
"  It  is  vain  to  serve  God,  and  what  profit  is  it  that 
we  have  kept  His  ordinance  ?  "  Equally  striking 
is  the  similarity  between  the  dialectic  temper  in  Job 
and  Malachi.  Everywhere  in  Malachi  occur  the 
phrases,  "  Ye  have  said,  yet  ye  say,"  etc  Good 
men  have  not  only  raised  the  problem  of  the  moral 
order,  as  Habakkuk  and  Jeremiah  had  done  :  they 
are  formally  discussing  it — exactly  the  phenomenon 
which  we  have  in  Job  and  do  not  have  in  pre-exilic 
times.  If  it  be  asked  why,  in  that  case,  there  is  no 
trace  of  influence  of  Deutero-Isaiah's  solution,  the 
answer  is  that,  in  any  case,  that  solution  stands  with- 
out serious  influence  on  the  subsequent  development 
of  religious  thought  in  the  Old  Testament. 

Again,  the  peculiar  boldness  of  the  discussion 
suggests  a  post-exilic  date.  Jeremiah  is  also  very 
bold,  xii.  1,  but  it  is  a  different  type  of  audacity  that 
expresses  itself  in  the  book  of  Job.  Unlike  Ecclesi- 
astes  in  practically  everything  else,  Job  is  like  it  in 


Job 


281 


being  a  sustained  and  fearless  challenge  of  the 
phenomena  of  the  moral  world.  A  post-exilic  date, 
and  perhaps  not  a  very  early  one,  would  seem  to  be 
suggested  by  these  phenomena.  It  is  the  product 
not  only  of  an  unhappy  man,  but  of  an  unhappy 
time,  when  life  is  a  warfare,  vii.  1,  and  good  men  are 
bitter  in  heart.  This  date  is  borne  out  by  the  angelo- 
logy  of  the  book,  v.  1,  and  by  its  easy  use  of  mytho- 
logy, iii.  8,  xx vi.  5— a  mythology  which  is  felt  to 
be  completely  innocuous,  because  monotheism  is 
secure  beyond  the  possibility  of  challenge.  It  is 
practically  certain  that  the  book  falls  before  Chron- 
icles (circa  300  B.C.)  as  in  1  Chronicles  xxi.  1,  Satan 
is  a  proper  name,  whereas  in  Job  the  word  is  still  an 
appellative — he  is  "  the  Satan."  Where  the  evi- 
dence is  so  slender  certainty  is  impossible  ;  but  there 
is  a  probability  that  the  book  may  be  safely  placed 
somewhere  between  450  and  350  B.C.  One  could 
conceive  it  to  be,  in  one  sense,  a  protest  against  the 
legalistic  conception  of  religion  encouraged  by  the 
work  of  Ezra,  and  this  would  admirably  fit  the  date 
assigned. 


Song   of  Songs 


The  contents  of  this  book  justify  the  description  of 
it  in  the  title,  i.  i,  as  the  "  loveliest  song  " — for  that 
is  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  idiom  "  song  of  songs." 
It  abounds  in  poetical  gems  of  the  purest  ray.  It 
breathes  the  bracing  air  of  the  hill  country,  and  the 
passionate  love  of  man  for  woman  and  woman  for 
man.  It  is  a  revelation  of  the  keen  Hebrew  delight 
in  nature,  in  her  vineyards  and  pastures,  flowers  and 
fruit  trees,  in  her  doves  and  deer  and  sheep  and 
goats.  It  is  a  song  tremulous  from  beginning  to  end 
with  the  passion  of  love  ;  and  this  love  it  depicts  in 
terms  never  coarse,  but  often  frankly  sensuous — so 
frankly  sensuous  that  in  the  first  century  its  place  in 
the  canon  was  earnestly  contested  by  Jewish 
scholars.  That  place  was  practically  settled  in  90 
a.d.  by  the  Synod  of  Jamnia,  which  settled  other 
similar  questions  ;  and  about  120  a.d.  we  find  a  dis- 
tinguished rabbi  maintaining  that  "  the  whole  world 
does  not  outweigh  the  day  when  the  Song  of  Songs 
was  given  to  Israel ;  while  all  the  Writings  are  holy, 
the  song  is  holiest  of  all."  This  extravagant  lan- 
guage suggests  that  the  canonicity  of  the  song  had 
been  strenuously  contested  ;  and  it  may  have  been 
a  latent  sense  of  the  secular  origin  of  the  song  that 
led  to  the  prescription  that  a  Jew  must  not  read  it  till 

282 


Song  of  Songs  283 

he  was  thirty  years  of  age.  Its  place  in  the  canon 
was  no  doubt  secured  for  it  by  two  considerations, 
(i)  its  reputed  Solomonic  authorship,  (ii)  its  allegori- 
cal interpretation. 

The  reception  of  the  book  in  the  Canon  led,  as 
Siegfried  has  said,  to  the  most  monstrous  creations 
in  the  history  of  interpretation.  If  it  be  by  Solo- 
mon, and  therefore  a  holy  book,  it  must  be  a  cele- 
bration of  divine  love,  not  of  human.  So  it  was 
argued  ;  and  the  theme  of  the  book  was  regarded 
as  the  love  of  Jehovah  for  Israel.  Christian  inter- 
preters, following  this  hint  of  their  Jewish  prede- 
cessors, applied  it  to  the  love  of  Christ  for  His  church 
or  for  the  individual  soul.  The  allegorical  view  of 
the  poem  has  many  parallels  in  the  mystic  poetry  of 
the  East,  and  it  even  finds  a  slender  support  in 
Hosea's  comparison  of  the  relation  of  Jehovah  to 
Israel  as  a  marriage  relationship  ;  but  taking  into 
account  the  general  nature  of  the  poem,  and  the 
tendencies  of  the  Hebrew  mind,  it  may  be  fairly  said 
that  the  allegorical  interpretation  is  altogether  im- 
possible. Any  love  poem  would  be  equally  capable 
of  such  an  interpretation. 

Another  view,  first  hinted  at  in  a  phrase  of  Origen, 
is  that  the  book  is  a  drama,  a  view  which  has  held 
the  field— not  without  challenge— for  over  a  cen- 
tury. There  is  much  in  the  language  of  the  song  to 
suggest  this  :  it  is  obvious,  e.g.,  that  there  is  occa- 
sional dialogue,  i.  15, 16,  ii.  2,  3,  but  the  actual  story 
of  the  drama  was  very  far  from  clear.  The  older 
view  was  that  it  was  a  story  of  Solomon's  love  for  a 
peasant  girl,  and  of  his  redemption  from  his  impure 
loves  by  his  affection  for  her.    But  as  in  viii.  1 1  f .  and 


284   Old  Testament   Introduction 

elsewhere,  Solomon  is"spoken  of  by  way  of  contrast, 
room  must  be  made  for  a  third^person,  the  shepherd 
lover  of  the  peasant  maid  ;  and,  with  much  variety 
of  detail,  the  supporters  of  the  dramatic  theory  now 
adhere  in  general  to  the  view  that  the  poem  cele- 
brates the  fidelity  of  a  peasant  maid  who  had  been 
captured  and  brought  to  Solomon's  harem,  but  who 
steadily  resisted  his  blandishments  and  was  finally 
restored  to  her  shepherd  lover.  The  book  becomes 
thus  not  a  triumph  of  love  over  lust,  but  of  love  over 
temptation.  The  story  is  very  pretty  ;  but  the 
objections  to  it  and  to  the  dramatic  view  of  the  book 
are  all  but  insuperable.  It  must  be  confessed  that, 
to  arrive  at  such  a  story  at  all,  a  good  deal  has  to  be 
read  between  the  lines,  and  interpreters  usually  find 
what  they  bring  ;  but  the  most  fatal  objection  to  it 
is  that  the  text  in  vi.  12,  on  which  the  whole  story 
turns — the  maiden's  surprise  in  the  orchard  by  the 
retinue  of  the  king — is  so  disjointed  and  obscure 
that  the  attempt  to  translate  it  has  been  abandoned 
by  many  competent  scholars. 

Apart  from  that,  the  story  can  hardly  be  said  to 
be  probable.  "  She,  my  dove,  is  but  one,"  vi.  9, 
would  sound  almost  comical  upon  the  lips  of  one  who 
possessed  the  harem  of  vi.  8.  But  in  any  case,  it  is 
almost  inconceivable  that  Solomon  would  have 
taken  a  refusal  from  a  peasant  girl :  Oriental  kings 
were  not  so  scrupulous.  Again,  it  is  very  hard  to 
detect  any  progress  on  the  dramatic  view  of  the 
book.  Ch.  viii.  with  its  innocent  expression  of  an 
early  love,  follows  ch.  vii.,  which  is  sensuous  to  the 
last  degree.  Further,  in  the  absence  of  stage  direc- 
tions, every  commentator  divides  the  verses  among 


Song  of  Songs  285 


the  characters  in  a  way  of  his  own  :  the  opening 
words  of  the  song,  i.  20,  may  be  interpreted  in  three 
or  four  different  ways,  and  equal  possibilities  of  in- 
terpretation abound  throughout  the  song.  Of  course 
the  difficulties  are  not  quite  so  great  in  the  Hebrew 
as  in  the  English  (e.g.  i.  15  must  be  spoken  by  the 
bridegroom  and  i.  16  by  the  bride),  but  they  are 
great  enough.  Again,  how  are  we  to  conceive  of  so 
short  a  play — 116  lines — being  divided  into  acts  and 
scenes  ?  for  the  scenes  are  continually  changing,  and 
the  longest  would  not  last  more  than  two  minutes. 
It  would  not  be  fair  to  lay  too  much  stress  upon  the 
fact  that  there  is  no  other  illustration  of  a  purely 
Semitic  drama  ;  that  would  be  to  argue  that,  if  a 
thing  did  not  happen  twice,  it  did  not  happen  once. 
Nevertheless,  coupled  with  the  untold  difficulties 
and  confusions  that  arise  from  regarding  the  song  as 
a  drama,  the  absence  of  a  Semitic  parallel  is  signi- 
ficant. 

The  true  view  of  this  perplexing  book  appears  to 
be  that  it  is,  as  Herder  called  it,  "  a  string  of  pearls  " 
— an  anthology  of  love  or  wedding  songs  sung  during 
the  festivities  of  the  "  king's  week,"  as  the  first  week 
after  the  wedding  is  called  in  Syria.  Very  great 
probability  has  been  added  to  this  view  by  the  ob- 
servations of  Syrian  customs  made  by  Wetzstein  in 
his  famous  essay  on  "  The  Syrian  Threshing-board," 
and  first  thoroughly  applied  by  Budde  to  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  Song.  Syrian  weddings,  we  are  told, 
usually  took  place  in  March,  ii.  n  ff.  The  threshing- 
floor  is  set  on  a  sort  of  platform  on  the  threshing- 
board  covered  with  carpets  and  pillows ;  and  upon 
this  throne,  the  "  king  and  queen,"  i.e.  the  bride 


286   Old  Testament  Introduction 

and  bridegreoom,  are  seated,  while  the  guests  honour 
them  with  song,  game  and  dance.  This  lasts  for 
seven  days  (cf.  Gen.  xxix.  27  ;  Jud.  xiv.  12)  ;  and 
the  theory  is  that  in  the  Song  of  Songs  we  have 
specimens  of  the  songs  sung  on  such  an  occasion. 
In  particular,  it  is  practically  certain  that  vi.  13- 
vii.  9  is  the  song  which  accompanied  the  "  sword- 
dance  "  (as  the  last  words  of  vi.  13  should  probably 
be  translated)  performed  by  the  bride  on  the  eve  of 
her  wedding  day.  This  would  explain  the  looseness 
of  the  arrangement,  no  special  attempt  being  made 
to  unify  the  songs,  though  it  may  be  conceded  that 
the  noble  eulogy  of  love  in  viii.  6,  7,  as  it  is  the  finest 
utterance  in  the  book,  was  probably  intended  as  a 
sort  of  climax. 

The  king,  then,  is  not  Solomon,  but  the  peasant 
bridegroom,  who  enjoys  the  regal  dignity,  and  even 
the  name  of  Israel's  most  splendid  monarch,  iii.  7,  9, 
for  the  space  of  a  week.  Ch.  iii.  n,  with  its  refer- 
ence to  the  bridegroom's  crown  (cf .  Isa.  lxi.  10),  is  all 
but  conclusive  proof  that  the  hero  is  not  king  Solo- 
mon, but  another  sort  of  bridegroom.  His  bride, 
perhaps  a  plain  country  girl,  counts  for  the  week  as 
the  maid  of  Shulem,  vi.  13,  i.e.  Abishag,  once  the 
fairest  maid  in  Israel  (vi.  1,  1  Kings  i.  3).  So 
throughout  the  "  king's  week  "  everything  is  trans- 
figured and  takes  on  the  colours  of  royal  magnifi- 
cence :  the  threshing-board  becomes  a  palanquin, 
and  the  rustic  bodyguard  appear  as  a  band  of  valiant 
warriors,  iii.  7,  8.  There  is  a  charming  naivete, 
and  indeed  something  much  profounder,  in  this 
temporary  transformation  of  those  humble  rustic 
lives.     We  are  involuntarily  reminded  of  scenes  in 


Song  of  Songs  287 

A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream.  This  view  of  the 
book  has  commended  itself  to  scholars  like  Noldeke, 
who  formerly  championed  the  dramatic  theory, 
though  two  of  the  latest  writers  l  have  argued  skil- 
fully against  it. 

The  following  may  be  taken  as  an  approximate 
division  of  the  songs,  though  some  of  the  longer 
sections  might  easily  be  regarded  as  a  combination 
of  two  or  three  songs.  The  bride  praises  the  bride- 
groom, modestly  depreciates  her  own  beauty,  and 
asks  where  her  bridegroom  is  to  be  found,  i.  2-8. 
Each  sings  the  other's  praises  :  the  happiness  of  the 
bride,  i.  9-ii.  7.  A  spring  wooing,  ii.  8-17.  The 
bride's  dream,  iii.  1-5.  The  bridegroom's  proces- 
sion, iii.  6-1 1.  The  charms  of  the  bride,  iv.  i-v.  1. 
The  beauty  of  the  bridegroom,  v.  2--vi.  3.  Praise  of 
the  bride,  vi.  4-12.  Praise  of  the  bride  as  she  dances 
the  sword-dance,  vii.  i~io.  The  bride's  longing, 
vii.  11-viii.  4.  The  incomparable  power  of  love, 
viii.  5-7.  The  bride's  proud  reply  to  her  brothers, 
viii.  8-10.  The  two  vineyards,  viii.  11,  12.  Con- 
clusion, viii.  13,  14. 

The  immortal  verses  in  praise  of  love,  viii.  6,  7, 
show  that,  in  spite  of  its  often  sensuous  expression, 
the  love  here  celebrated  is  not  only  pure  but  exclus- 
ive ;  and  the  book,  which  once  was  regarded  as  a 
satire  on  the  court  of  Solomon,  would  in  any  case 
make  in  favour  of  monogamic  sentiment,  and  tend 
to  ennoble  ideals  in  a  country  where  marriage  was 
simply  regarded  as  a  contract. 

The  mention  of  Israel's  ancient  capital  Tirzali  in 

1  Harper,  in  the  Cambridge  Bible  "  Song  of  Songs,"  and 
Rothstein,  in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 


288    Old   Testament   Introduction 

vi.  4  (if  the  text  be  correct)  as  a  parallel  to  Jeru- 
salem, would  alone  be  enough  to  bring  the  date  be- 
low Solomon's  time  (cf.  i  Kings  xiv.  17,  xvi.  23). 
But  it  is  no  doubt  much  later.  The  Persian  word 
fiardes  in  iv.  13  appears  to  imply  the  Persian  period, 
and  is  used  elsewhere  only  in  post-exilic  books 
(Neh.  ii.  8  ;  Eccles.  ii.  5).  Indeed  the  word  appirion 
in  hi.  9  appears  to  be  the  Hebraized  form  of  a  Greek 
word  fthoreion,  and  if  so  would  almost  necessarily 
imply  the  Greek  period,  though  the  Hebrews  may 
have  been  acquainted  with  Greek  words,  through 
the  Greek  settlements  in  Egypt,  as  early  as  the  sixth 
century  B.C.  Many  of  the  words  and  constructions, 
however,  are  demonstrably  late  and  Aramaic  ;  and 
the  linguistic  evidence  alone  (unless  we  assume  an 
earlier  book  to  have  been  worked  over  in  later  times) 
would  put  the  Song  hardly  earlier  than  the  fourth 
century  B.C.  Yet  the  fact  that  though  a  secular 
writing,  it  is  in  Hebrew  and  not  Aramaic,  which  was 
rapidly  gaining  ground,  shows  that  it  can  hardly  be 
brought  down  much  later.  On  the  whole,  probably 
it  is  to  be  placed  somewhere  between  400  and  300  ; 
and  its  sunny  vivacity  thus  becomes  a  welcome  foil 
to  the  austerity  of  the  post-exilic  age.  If  this  argu- 
ment is  sound,  it  follows  that  the  book  cannot  have 
been  by  Solomon.  The  superscription,  i.  1,  was  no 
doubt  added  by  a  later  hand  on  the  basis  of  the 
many  references  to  Solomon  in  the  book,  hi.  7-1 1, 
viii.  11  f,  and  of  the  statement  in  1  Kings  iv.  32  that 
he  was  the  author  of  1,005  songs. 

Where  the  songs  were  composed  we  cannot  tell. 
The  scenes  they  reflect  so  vividly  are  rather  those  of 
Israel  than  of  Judah,  but  the  repeated  allusions  to 


Song  of  Songs  289 

the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  would  be  most  naturally 
explained  if  the  songs  came  from  Jerusalem  or  its 
neighbourhood.  With  this  agree  the  references  to 
Engedi,  Heshbon,  Kedar,  while  the  northern  places 
mentioned,  Lebanon,  Hermon,  Gilead,  Damascus, 
are  such  as  would  be  familiar,  at  any  rate,  by  repu- 
tation, to  a  Judean. 


19 


Ruth 

Goethe  has  characterized  the  book  of  Ruth  as  the 
loveliest  little  idyll  that  tradition  has  transmitted 
to  us.  Whatever  be  its  didactic  purpose — and  some 
would  prefer  to  think  that  it  had  little  or  none — it  is, 
at  any  rate,  a  wonderful  prose  poem,  sweet,  artless, 
and  persuasive,  touched  with  the  quaintness  of  an 
older  world  and  fresh  with  the  scent  of  the  harvest 
fields.  The  love — stronger  than  country — of  Ruth 
for  Naomi,  the  gracious  figure  of  Boaz  as  he  moves 
about  the  fields  with  a  word  of  blessing  for  the 
reapers,  the  innocent  scheming  of  Naomi  to  secure 
him  as  a  husband  for  Ruth — these  and  a  score  of 
similar  touches  establish  the  book  for  ever  in  the 
heart  of  all  who  love  nobility  and  romance. 

The  inimitable  grace  and  tenderness  of  the  story 
are  dissipated  in  a  summary,  but  the  main  facts  are 
these.  A  man  of  Bethlehem,  with  his  wife  Naomi 
and  two  sons,  is  driven  by  stress  of  famine  to  Moab, 
where  the  sons  marry  women  of  the  land.  In  course 
of  time,  father  and  sons  die,  and  Naomi  resolves  to 
return  home.  Ruth,  one  of  her  daughters-in-law, 
accompanies  her,  in  spite  of  Naomi's  earnest  en- 
treaty that  she  should  remain  in  her  own  land.  In 
Bethlehem,  Ruth  receives  peculiar  kindness  from 
Boaz,  a  wealthy  landowner,  who  happens  to  be  a 
kinsman  of  Naomi ;    and  Naomi,  with  a  woman's 

290 


Ruth 


291 


happy  instinct,  devises  a  plan  for  bringing  Boaz  to 
declare  himself  a  champion  and  lover  of  Ruth.  The 
plan  is  successful.  A  kinsman  nearer  than  Boaz 
refuses  to  claim  his  rights  by  marrying  her,  and  the 
way  is  left  open  for  Boaz.  He  accordingly  marries 
Ruth,  who  thus  becomes  the  ancestress  of  the  great 
King  David. 

Why  was  this  story  told  ?  The  question  of  its 
object  is  to  some  extent  bound  up  with  the  question 
of  date  ;  and  for  several  reasons,  this  appears  to  be 
late.  (1)  In  the  Greek,  Latin  and  modern  Bibles, 
Ruth  is  placed  after  Judges  ;  in  the  Hebrew  Bible 
it  is  placed  towards  the  end,  among  the  Writings, 
i.e.  the  last  division,  in  which,  speaking  generally, 
only  late  books  appear.  Had  the  book  been  pre- 
exilic,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  it  would  have 
been  placed  after  Judges  in  the  second  division. 
Some  indeed  maintain  that  this  is  its  original  posi- 
tion ;  but  it  is  easier  to  account  for  its  transference 
from  the  third  division  to  the  second,  as  a  foil  to 
the  war-like  episodes  of  the  judges,  than  for  its 
transference  from  the  second  to  the  third.  (2)  The 
argument  from  language  is  perhaps  not  absolutely 
decisive,  but,  on  the  whole,  it  is  scarcely  compatible 
with  an  early  date.  Some  words  are  pure  Aramaic, 
and  some  of  the  Hebrew  usages  do  not  appear  in 
early  literature,  e.g.,  "  fall,"  in  the  sense  of  "  fall 
out,  issue,  happen,"  hi.  18.  (3)  The  opening  words 
— "  In  the  days  when  the  judges  judged,"  i.  1— 
suggest  not  only  that  those  days  are  past,  but  that 
they  are  regarded  as  a  definite  period  falling  within 
an  historical  scheme.  The  book  must  be,  at  any  rate, 
as  late   as   David— for   it   describes   Ruth   as   his 


292    Old  Testament   Introduction 

ancestress,  iv.  17— and  probably  much  later,  as  the 
implication  is  that  it  is  a  great  thing  to  be  the 
ancestress  of  David.  The  reverence  of  a  later  age 
for  the  great  king  shines  through  the  simple  genea- 
logical notice  with  which  the  story  concludes.1 
(4)  Further,  the  old  custom  of  throwing  away  the 
shoe  as  a  symbol  of  the  abandonment  of  one's  claim 
to  property,  a  custom  familiar  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury B.C.  (Deut.  xxv.  o,f.)  is  in  iv.  7  regarded  as 
obsolete,  belonging  to  the  "  former  time."  The 
cumulative  effect  of  these  indications  is  strongly  to 
suggest  a  post-exilic  date.  Not  perhaps,  however,  a 
very  late  one  :  a  book  as  late  as  the  Maccabean 
period  would  hardly  have  reflected  so  kindly  a 
feeling  towards  the  foreigner  (cf .  Esther). 

The  storj  probably  rests  upon  a  basis  of  fact. 
David's  conduct  in  putting  his  parents  under  the 
protection  of  the  king  of  Moab  (1  Sam.  xxii.  3,  4) 
would  find  its  simplest  explanation,  if  he  had  been 
connected  in  some  way  with  Moab,  as  the  book  of 
Ruth  represents  him  to  have  been  ;  whereas  a  later 
age  would  hardly  have  dared  to  invent  a  Moabite 
ancestress  for  him,  had  there  been  no  tradition  to 
that  effect. 

The  object  of  the  book  has  been  supposed  by  some 
to  be  to  commend  the  so-called  levirate  marriage. 
This  is  improbable  :  not  so  much  because  the  mar- 
riage was  not  strictly  levirate,  since  neither  Boaz 
nor  the  kinsman  was  the  brother-in-law  of  Ruth — 
it  would  be  fair  enough  to  regard  this  as  a  legitimate 
extension  of  the  principle  of  levirate  marriage,  whose 

1  Probably  iv.  18-22  is  a  later  addition,  but  that  does  not 
affect  the  general  argument  (cf.  v.  17). 


Ruth  293 

object  was  to  perpetuate  the  dead  man's  name — 
but  rather  because  this  is  a  comparatively  subor- 
dinate element  in  the  story. 

The  true  explanation  is  no  doubt  to  be  sought  in 
the  fact  that  Ruth  the  Moabitess  is  counted  worthy 
to  be  an  ancestress  of  David  ;  and,  if  the  book  be 
post-exilic,  its  religious  significance  is  at  once  ap- 
parent. It  was  in  all  probability  the  dignified 
answer  of  a  man  of  prophetic  instincts  to  the  rigorous 
measures  of  Ezra,  which  demanded  the  divorce  of 
all  foreign  women  (Ezra  ix.  x,  cf.  Neh.  xiii.  23ff.) ; 
for  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  there  is  a  delicate 
polemic  in  the  repeated  designation  of  Ruth  as  the 
Moabitess,  i.  22,  ii.  2,  6,  21,  iv.  5,  10 — she  even  calls 
herself  the  "  stranger,"  ii.  10.  It  would  be  pleasant 
to  think  that  the  writer  had  himself  married  one  of 
these  foreign  women.  In  any  case,  he  champions 
their  cause  not  only  with  generosity  but  with  in- 
sight ;  for  he  knows  that  some  of  them  have  faith 
enough  to  adopt  Israel's  God  as  their  God,  i.  16,  and 
that  even  a  Moabitess  may  be  an  Israelite  indeed. 
Ezra's  severe  legislation  was  inspired  by  the  worthy 
desire  to  preserve  Israel's  religion  from  the  peril  of 
contagion  :  the  author  of  Ruth  gently  teaches  that 
the  foreign  woman  is  not  an  inevitable  peril,  she  may 
be  loyal  to  Israel  and  faithful  to  Israel's  God.  The 
writer  dares  to  represent  the  Moabitess  as  eating 
with  the  Jews,  ii.  14— winning  by  her  ability,  re- 
source and  affection,  the  regard  of  all,  and  counted 
by  God  worthy  to  be  the  mother  of  Israel's  greatest 
king.  The  generous  type  of  religion  represented  by 
the  book  of  Ruth  is  a  much  needed  and  very  attrac- 
tive complement  to  the  stern  legalism  of  Ezra. 


Lamentations 

The  book  familiarly  known  as  the  Lamentations 
consists  of  four  elegies  1  (i.,  ii.,  iii.,  iv.)  and  a  prayer 
(v.).  The  general  theme  of  the  elegies  is  the  sorrow 
and  desolation  created  by  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem 2  in  586  B.C.  :  the  last  poem  (v.)  is  a  prayer 
for  deliverance  from  the  long  continued  distress. 
The  elegies  are  all  alphabetic,  and  like  most  alpha- 
betic poems  (cf.  Ps.  cxix.)  are  marked  by  little  con- 
tinuity of  thought.  The  first  poem  is  a  lament 
over  Jerusalem,  bereft,  by  the  siege,  of  her  glory  and 
her  sanctuary,  i.  1-11,  though  the  bitter  and  com- 
fortless doom  which  she  bewails  in  i.  12-22,  is 
regarded  as  the  divine  penalty  for  her  sin,  i.  5,  8. 
Similarly  in  ii.  1-10  her  sorrow  and  suffering 
are  admitted  to  be  a  divine  judgment.  Her 
shame  and  distress  are  inconsolable,  ii.  11-17, 
and  she  appeals  to  her  God  to  look  upon  her  in  her 
agony,  ii.  18-22.  The  third  poem,  probably  the 
latest  in  the  book,  represents  the  city,  after  a  bitter 
lament,  iii.  1-2 1,  as  being  inspired,  by  the  thought 

1  In  the  Hebrew  elegiac  metre,  as  in  the  Greek  and  Latin,  the 
second  line  is  shorter  than  the  first — usually  three  beats  followed 
by  two. 

2  An  unconvincing  attempt  has  been  made  to  refer  the  last 
two  chapters  to  the  Maccabean  age — about  170  B.C. 

294 


Lamentations  295 

of  the  love  of  God,  to  submission  and  hope,  iii.  22-36. 
A  prayer  of  penitence  and  confession,  iii.  37-54,  is 
followed  by  a  petition  for  vengeance  upon  the  ad- 
versaries, iii.  55-66.  The  fourth  poem,  like  the 
second,  offers  a  very  vivid  picture  of  the  sorrows  and 
horrors  of  the  siege  :  it  laments,  in  detail,  the  fate 
of  the  people,  iv.  1-6,  the  princes,  iv.  7-11,  the 
priests  and  the  prophets,  iv.  12-16,  and  the  king, 
iv.  17-20,  and  ends  with  a  prophecy  of  doom  upon 
the  Edomites,  iv.  21,  22,  who  behaved  so  cruelly 
after  the  siege  (Ps.  cxxxvii.  7).  In  the  last  poem 
the  city,  after  piteously  lamenting  her  manifold 
sorrows,  v.  1-18,  beseeches  the  everlasting  God  for 
deliverance  therefrom,  v.  19-22. 

A  very  old  and  by  no  means  unreasonable  tradition 
assigns  the  authorship  of  the  book  to  Jeremiah.  In 
the  Greek  version  it  is  introduced  by  the  words— 
which  appear  to  go  back  to  a  Hebrew  original— 
"  And  it  came  to  pass,  after  Israel  had  been  led 
captive  and  Jerusalem  made  desolate,  that  Jeremiah 
sat  down  weeping,  and  lifted  up  this  lament  over 
Jerusalem  and  said."  This  view  of  the  authorship 
is  as  old  as  the  Chronicler,  who  in  2  Chronicles  xxxv. 
25  seems  to  refer  the  book  to  Jeremiah,  probably 
regarding  iv.  20,  which  refers  to  Zedekiah,  as  an 
allusion  to  Josiah.  Chs.  ii.  and  iv.  especially  are  so 
graphic  that  they  must  have  been  written  by  an 
eye-witness  who  had  seen  the  temple  desecrated 
and  who  had  himself  tasted  the  horrors  of  a  siege, 
in  which  the  mothers  had  eaten  their  own  children 
for  very  hunger.  The  passionate  love,  too,  for  the 
people,  which  breathes  through  the  elegies  might 
well   be   Jeremiah's ;     and   the   ascription   of   the 


296   Old  Testament   Introduction 

calamity  to  the  sin  of  the  people,  i.  5,  8,  is  in  the 
spirit  of  the  prophet. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  not  certain,  or  even  very  prob- 
able, that  Jeremiah  is  the  author.  Unlike  the  Greek 
and  the  English  Bible,  the  Hebrew  Bible  does  not 
place  the  Lamentations  immediately  after  Jeremiah 
but  in  the  third  division,  among  the  Writings,  so 
that  there  is  really  no  initial  presumption  in  favour 
of  the  Jeremianic  authorship.  Again,  Jeremiah 
could  hardly  have  said  that  "  the  prophets  find  no 
vision  from  Jehovah,"  ii.  8,  nor  described  the 
vacillating  Zedekiah  as  "  the  breath  of  our  nostrils," 
iv.  20,  nor  attributed  the  national  calamities  to  the 
sins  of  the  fathers,  v.  7.  Other  features  in  the  situa- 
tion presupposed  by  ch.  v.  appear  to  imply  a  time 
later  than  Jeremiah's,  v.  18,  20,  and  it  is  very  unlikely 
that  one  who  was  so  sorely  smitten  as  Jeremiah  by 
the  inconsolable  sorrow  of  Jerusalem  would  have 
expressed  his  grief  in  alphabetic  elegies  :  men  do 
not  write  acrostics  when  their  hearts  are  breaking. 
When  we  add  to  this  that  chs.  ii.  and  iv.  which  stand 
nearest  to  the  calamity  appear  to  betray  dependence 
on  Ezekiel  (ii.  14,  iv.  20,  Ezek.  xxii.  28,  xix,  24,  etc.) 
there  is  little  probability  that  the  poems  are  by 
Jeremiah. 

It  is  not  even  certain  that  they  are  all  from  the 
same  hand,  as,  unless  we  transpose  two  verses,  the 
alphabetic  order  of  the  first  poem  differs  from  that 
of  the  other  three,  and  the  number  of  elegiacs — 
three — in  each  verse  of  the  first  two  poems,  differs 
from  the  number — one — in  the  third,  and  two  in 
the  fourth.  In  the  third  poem  each  letter  has  three 
verses  to  itself ;  in  the  other  three  poems,  only  one. 


Lamentations  297 

Ch.  iii.  with  its  highly  artificial  structure  and  its 
tendency  to  sink  into  the  gnomic  style,  iii.  26fL,  is 
probably  remotest  of  all  from  the  calamity.1  Con- 
sidering the  general  hopelessness  of  the  outlook, 
chs.  ii.  and  iv.  at  any  rate,  which  are  apparently  the 
earliest,  were  probably  composed  before  the  pardon 
of  Jehoiachin  in  561  B.C.  (2  Kings  xxv.  27)  when  new 
possibilities  began  to  dawn  for  the  exiles.  580-570 
may  be  accepted  as  a  probable  date.  The  calamity 
is  near  enough  to  be  powerfully  felt,  yet  remote 
enough  to  be  an  object  of  poetic  contemplation. 
The  other  poems  are  no  doubt  later  :  ch.  v.  may  as 
well  express  the  sorrow  of  the  returned  exiles  as  the 
sorrow  of  the  exile  itself.  More  than  this  we  cannot 
say. 

The  older  parts  of  the  book,  whether  written  in 
Egypt,  Babylon,  or  more  probably  in  Judah,  are  of 
great  historic  value,  as  offering  minute  and  practically 
contemporary  evidence  for  the  siege  of  Jerusalem 
(cf.  ii.  9-12)  and  as  reflecting  the  hopelessness  which 
followed  it.  Yet  the  hopelessness  is  by  no  means 
unrelieved.  Besides  the  prayer  to  God  who  abideth 
for  ever,  v.  19,  is  the  general  teaching  that  good 
may  be  won  from  calamity,  iii.  24-27,  and,  above  all, 
the  beautiful  utterance  that  "  the  love  of  Jehovah 
never  ceases  2  and  His  pity  never  fails,"  iii.  22. 

1  The  intensely  personal  words  at  the  beginning  of  ch.  iii. 
are,  no  doubt,  to  be  interpreted  collectively.  The  "  man  who 
has  seen  affliction  "  is  not  Jeremiah,  but  the  community.  Cf. 
v.  14,  "  I  am  become  the  laughing  stock  of  all  nations  "  (emended 
text).     Cf.  also  v.  45. 

2  Grammar  and  parallelism  alike  suggest  the  emendation  on 
which  the  above  translation  rests. 


Ecclesiastes 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes 
had  a  struggle  to  maintain  its  place  in  the  canon, 
and  it  was  probably  only  its  reputed  Solomonic 
authorship  and  the  last  two  verses  of  the  book  that 
permanently  secured  its  position  at  the  synod  of 
Jamnia  in  90  a.d.  The  Jewish  scholars  of  the  first 
century  a.d.  were  struck  by  the  manner  in  which  it 
contradicted  itself  :  e.g.,  "  I  praised  the  dead  more 
than  the  living,"  iv.  2,  "A  living  dog  is  better  than 
a  dead  lion,"  ix.  4  ;  but  they  were  still  more  dis- 
tressed by  the  spirit  of  scepticism  and  "  heresy  " 
which  pervaded  the  book  (cf.  xi.  9  with  Num.  xv. 

39)- 

In  spite  of  the  opening  verse,  it  is  very  plain  that 
Solomon  could  not  have  been  the  author  of  the  book. 
Not  only  in  i.  12  is  his  reign  represented  as  over— 
I  was  king — though  Solomon  was  on  the  throne  till 
his  death,  but  in  i.  16,  ii.  7,  9,  he  is  contrasted  with 
all — apparently  all  the  kings — that  were  before  him 
in  Jerusalem,  though  his  own  father  was  the  founder 
of  the  dynasty.  There  is  no  probability  that 
Solomon  would  have  so  scathingly  assailed  the 
administration  of  justice  for  which  he  himself  was 
responsible,  as  is  done  in  iii.  16,  iv.  I,  v.  8.  The 
sigh  in  xii.  12  over  the  multiplicity  of  books  is 
thoroughly  inappropriate  to  the  age  of  Solomon. 

298 


Ecclesiastes  299 

Indeed  the  whole  manner  in  which  the  problem  is 
attacked  is  inappropriate  to  so  early  a  stage  of  liter- 
ary and  religious  development.  But  it  was  by  a 
singularly  happy  stroke  that  Solomon  was  chosen 
by  a  later  thinker  as  the  mouthpiece  of  his  reflections 
on  life  ;  for  Solomon,  with  his  wealth,  buildings, 
harem,  magnificence,  had  had  opportunity  to  test 
life  at  every  point,  and  his  exceptional  wisdom 
would  give  unique  value  to  his  judgment. 

Ecclesiastes  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  latest  books 
in  the  Old  Testament.  The  criteria  for  determining 
the  date  are  chiefly  three,  (i)  Linguistic.  Alike  in 
its  single  words  (e.g.,  preference  for  abstract  nouns 
ending  in  uth)  its  syntax  (e.g.,  the  almost  entire 
absence  of  waw  conversive)  and  its  general  linguistic 
character,  the  book  illustrates  the  latest  develop- 
ment of  the  Hebrew  language.  There  are  not  a  few 
words  which  occur  elsewhere  only  in  Chronicles, 
Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Esther :  there  are  some  pure 
Aramaic  words,  some  words  even  which  belong  to 
the  Hebrew  of  the  Mishna.  Even  if  we  allow  an 
early  international  use  of  Aramaic,  the  corrupt 
Hebrew  of  the  book  would  alone  compel  us  to  place 
it  very  late.  Some  have  sought  to  strengthen  the 
argument  for  a  late  date  from  the  presence  of  Greek 
influence  on  the  language  of  the  book,  e.g.,  in  such 
phrases  as  "  under  the  sun,"  "  to  behold  the  sun," 
"  the  good  which  is  also  beautiful,"  v.  18  ;  but, 
probable  as  it  may  be,  it  is  not  certain  that  there  are 
Graecisms  in  the  language  of  Ecclesiastes.1 

(2)  Historical.     There  is  much  interesting   detail 

1  Cf.  A.  H.  McNeile,  Introduction  to  Ecclesiastes,  p.  43- 


300   Old  Testament   Introduction 

which  is  clearly  a  transcript  of  the  author's  experi- 
ence :  the  slaves  he  had  seen  on  horseback,  x.  7,  the 
poor  youth  who  became  king,  iv.  13-16  (cf.  ix.  14ft.). 
These  incidents,  however,  are  too  lightly  touched, 
and  we  know  too  little  of  the  history  of  the  period, 
to  be  able  to  locate  them  definitely.  The  woe  upon 
the  land  whose  king  is  a  child,  x.  16,  has  been 
repeatedly  connected  with  the  time  of  Ptolemy  V. 
Epiphanes  (205-181  B.C.),  the  last  of  his  house  who 
ruled  over  Palestine  and  who  at  his  father's  death 
was  little  over  four  years  old.  However  that  may 
be,  the  general  historical  background  is  unmistak- 
ably that  of  the  late  post-exilic  age.  The  book  bears 
the  stamp  of  an  evil  time,  when  injustice  and  op- 
pression were  the  order  of  the  day,  hi.  16,  iv.  1,  v.  8, 
government  was  corrupt  and  disorderly  and  speech 
dangerous,  x.  20.  The  allusions  would  suit  the  last 
years  of  the  Persian  empire  (333)  ;  but  if,  as  the 
linguistic  evidence  suggests,  the  book  is  later,  it  can 
hardly  be  placed  before  250  B.C.,  as  during  the  earlier 
years  of  the  Greek  period,  Palestine  was  not  unhappy. 
(3)  Philosophical.  The  speculative  mood  of  the 
book  marks  it  as  late.  Though  not  an  abstract  dis- 
cussion— the  Old  Testament  is  never  abstract — it  is 
more  abstract  than  the  kindred  discussion  in  the 
book  of  Job.  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  Ecclesiastes 
was  not  affected  by  the  Greek  philosophical  influences 
of  the  time.  If  it  be  not  necessary  to  trace  its  con- 
tempt of  the  world  to  Stoicism,  or  its  inculcation  of 
the  wise  enjoyment  of  the  passing  moment  directly 
to  Epicureanism,  at  least  an  indirect  influence  can 
hardly  be  denied.  Greek  thought  was  spreading  as 
the   Greek  language   was  ;   and   the   scepticism   of 


Ecclesiastes  301 

Ecclesiastes,  though  not  without  parallels  in  earlier 
stages  of  Hebrew  literature,  yet  here  assumes  a 
deliberate,  sustained  and  all  but  philosophic  form, 
which  finds  its  most  natural  explanation  in  the  pro- 
found and  pervasive  influence  of  Greek  philosophy 
— an  influence  which  could  hardly  be  escaped  by  an 
age  in  which  books  had  multiplied  and  study  been 
prosecuted  till  it  was  a  burden,  xii.  12. 

This  "  charming  book,"  as  Renan  calls  it,  has  in 
many  ways  more  affinity  with  the  modern  mind  than 
any  other  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  weary  with 
the  weight  of  an  insoluble  problem.  With  a  cold- 
blooded frankness,  which  is  not  cynical,  only  because 
it  is  so  earnest,  it  faces  the  stern  facts  of  human 
life,  without  being  able  to  bring  to  their  interpreta- 
tion the  sublime  inspirations  of  religion.  More  than 
once  is  the  counsel  given  to  fear  God,  but  it  is  not 
offered  as  a  solution  of  the  riddle.  The  world  is 
crooked,  i.  15,  vii.  13,  and  no  change  is  possible, 
hi.  1-8.  It  is  a  weary  round  of  contradictions, 
birth  and  death,  peace  and  war,  the  former  state 
annihilated  by  the  latter  ;  and  by  reason  of  the 
fixity  of  these  contradictions  and  the  certainty  of 
that  annihilation,  all  human  effort  is  vain,  iii.  9. 
It  is  all  alike  vanity— not  only  the  meaner  struggles 
for  food  and  drink  and  pleasure  (ii.)  but  even  the 
nobler  ambitions  of  the  soul,  such  as  its  yearning  for 
wisdom  and  knowledge.  Whether  we  turn  to  the 
physical  or  the  moral  world  it  is  all  the  same.  There 
is  no  goal  in  nature  (i.)  :  history  runs  on  and  runs 
nowhere.  All  effort  is  swallowed  up  by  death. 
Man  is  no  better  than  a  beast,  iii.  19  ;  beyond  the 
grave  there  is  nothing.     Everywhere  is  disillusion- 


302    Old  Testament   Introduction 

ment,  and  woman  is  the  bitterest  of  all,  vii.  26. 
The  moral  order  is  turned  upside  down.  Wrong  is 
for  ever  on  the  throne.  Providence,  if  there  be  such 
a  thing,  seems  to  be  on  the  side  of  cruelty.  Tears 
stand  on  many  a  face,  but  the  mourners  must  re- 
main uncomforted,  iv.  1.  The  just  perish  and  the 
wicked  live  long,  vii.  15.  The  good  fare  as  the  bad 
ought  to  fare,  and  the  bad  as  the  good,  viii.  14. 
Better  be  dead  than  live  in  such  a  world,  iv.  2  ;  nay, 
better  never  have  been  born  at  all,  vi.  3.  For  all  is 
vanity  :  that  is  the  beginning  of  the  matter,  i.  2,  it 
is  no  less  the  end,  xii.  8.  Over  every  effort  and 
aspiration  is  wrung  this  fearful  knell. 

Sad  conclusion  anywhere,  but  especially  sad  for 
a  Jew  to  reach  !  Indeed  he  contradicts  some  of  the 
dearest  and  most  fundamental  tenets  of  the  Jewish 
faith.  Many  a  devout  contemporary  must  have 
been  horrified  at  the  dictum  that  man  had  no  pre- 
eminence above  a  beast,  or  that  the  world,  which  he 
had  been  taught  to  believe  was  very  good  (Gen.  i. 
31)  was  one  great  vanity.  The  preacher  could  not 
share  the  high  hopes  of  a  Messianic  kingdom  to  come, 
of  resurrection  and  immortality,  which  consoled  and 
inspired  many  men  of  his  day.  To  him  life  was 
nothing  but  dissatisfaction  ending  in  annihilation. 
If  this  is  not  pessimism,  what  is  ? 

But  is  this  all  ?  Not  exactly.  For  "  the  light  is 
sweet,  and  a  pleasant  thing  it  is  for  the  eyes  to  behold 
the  sun,"  xi.  7.  Over  and  over  again  the  counsel  is 
given  to  eat  and  drink  and  enjoy  good,  ii.  24  ;  and 
despite  the  bitter  criticism  of  woman  already  alluded 
to,  a  wife  can  make  life  more  than  tolerable,  ix.  9. 
Nor  does  the  book  display  the  thorough-going  re- 


Ecclesiastes  303 

jection  of  religion  which  the  previous  sketch  of  it 
would  have  led  us  to  expect.  It  is  pessimistic,  but 
not  atheistic  ;  nay,  it  believes  not  only  in  God  but 
in  a  judgment,  iii.  17,  xi.  96,  though  not  necessarily 
in  the  hereafter.  There  is  considerable  extrava- 
gance in  CornhTs  remark  that  "  never  did  Old 
Testament  piety  celebrate  a  greater  triumph  than 
in  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes  "  ;  but  there  is  enough 
to  show  that  the  book  is,  after  its  own  peculiar 
melancholy  fashion,  a  religious  book.  It  is  signifi- 
cant, however,  that  the  context  of  the  word  God, 
which  only  occurs  some  twenty  times,  is  often  very 
sombre.  He  it  is  who  has  "  given  travail  to  the  sons 
of  men  to  be  exercised  therewith,"  i.  13,  iii.  10,  cf. 
esp.  iii.  18.  Again,  if  the  writer  has  any  real  belief 
in  a  day  of  judgment,  why  should  he  so  persistently 
emphasize  the  resultlessness  of  life  and  deny  the 
divine  government  of  the  world  ?  "  The  fate  of  all 
is  the  same — just  and  unjust,  pure  and  impure. 
As  fares  the  good,  so  fares  the  sinner,"  ix.  2.  This 
is  a  direct  and  deliberate  challenge  of  the  law  of 
retribution  in  which  the  writer  had  been  brought  up. 
It  may  be  urged,  of  course,  that  his  belief  in  a  divine 
judgment  is  a  postulate  of  his  faith  which  he  retains, 
though  he  does  not  find  it  verified  by  experience. 
But  such  words — and  there  are  many  such — seem 
to  carry  us  much  farther.  Here,  then,  is  the  essen- 
tial problem  of  the  book.  Can  it  be  regarded  as  a 
unity  ? 

Almost  every  commentator  laments  the  impossi- 
bility of  presenting  a  continuous  and  systematic 
exposition  of  the  argument  in  Ecclesiastes,  or 
Qoheleth,  as  the  book  is  called  in  the  Hebrew  Bible. 


304   Old  Testament   Introduction 

The  truth  is  that,  though  the  first  three  chapters  are 
in  the  main  coherent  and  continuous,  little  order  or 
arrangement  can  be  detected  in  the  rest  of  the  book. 
Various  explanations  have  been  offered.  Bickell, 
e.g.,  supposed  that  the  leaves  had  by  some  accident 
become  disarranged — a  supposition  not  wholly  im- 
possible, but  highly  improbable,  especially  when  we 
consider  that  the  Greek  translation  reads  the  book 
in  the  same  order  as  the  Hebrew  text.  Others  sup- 
pose with  equal  improbability  that  the  book  is  a 
sort  of  dialogue,  in  which  each  speaker  maintains 
his  own  thesis,  while  the  epilogue,  xii.  I3f.,  pro- 
nounces the  final  word  on  the  discussion.  One 
thing  is  certain,  that  various  moods  are  represented 
in  the  book  :  the  question  is  whether  they  are  the 
moods  of  one  man  or  of  several.  Baudissin  thinks 
it  not  impossible  that,  "  apart  from  smaller  inter- 
polations, the  book  as  a  whole  is  the  reflection  of 
the  struggle  of  one  and  the  same  author  towards  a 
view  of  the  world  which  he  has  not  yet  found." 

Note  the  phrase  "  apart  from  interpolations." 
Even  the  most  cautious  and  conservative  scholars 
usually  admit  that  the  facts  constrain  them  to  be- 
lieve in  the  presence  of  interpolations  :  e.g.,  xi.  96 
and  xii.  za  are  almost  universally  regarded  in  this 
light.  The  difficulties  occasioned  by  the  book  are 
chiefly  three.  (1)  Its  fragmentary  character.  Ch. 
x.,  e.g.,  looks  more  like  a  collection  of  proverbs  than 
anything  else.  (2)  Its  abrupt  transitions :  e.g., 
vii.  19,  20.  "  Wisdom  strengtheneth  the  wise  more 
than  ten  men  that  are  in  a  city  :  for  there  is  not  a 
righteous  man  on  the  earth."  This  may  be  another 
aspect  of  (1).     But  (3)  more  serious  and  important 


Ecclesiastes  305 

are  the  undoubted  contradictions  of  the  book,  some 
of  which  had  been  noted  by  early  Jewish  scholars. 
E.g.,  there  is  nothing  better  than  to  eat  and  drink, 
ii.  24  ;  it  is  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning  than 
to  the  house  of  feasting,  vii.  2.  In  iii.  1-8  times  are 
so  fixed  and  determined  that  human  labour  is  profit- 
less, iii.  9,  while  in  iii.  11  this  inflexible  order  is  not 
an  oppressive  but  a  beautiful  thing.  In  viii.  14, 
ix.  2  (cf.  vii.  15)  the  fate  of  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked  is  the  same,  in  viii.  12,  13,  it  is  different :  it 
is  well  with  the  one  and  ill  with  the  other.  In  iii.  16, 
which  is  radically  pessimistic  (cf.  vv.  18-21),  there  is 
no  justice  :  in  iii.  17  a  judgment  is  coming.  Better 
death  than  life,  iv.  2,  better  life  than  death,  ix.  4 
(cf.  xi.  7).  In  i.  17  the  search  for  wisdom  is  a  pur- 
suit of  the  wind  :  in  ii.  13  wisdom  excels  folly  as 
light  darkness.  Ch.  ii.  22  emphasizes  the  utter 
fruitlessness  of  labour,  iii.  22  its  joy.  These  con- 
tradictions are  too  explicit  to  be  ignored.  Indeed 
sometimes  their  juxtaposition  forces  them  upon  the 
most  inattentive  reader  ;  as  when  viii.  12,  13  assert 
that  it  is  well  with  the  righteous  and  ill  with  the 
wicked,  whereas  viii.  14  asserts  that  the  wicked 
often  fare  as  the  just  should  fare  and  vice  versa  ; 
and  that  this  is  the  author's  real  opinion  is  made 
certain  by  the  occurrence  of  the  melancholy  refrain 
at  the  end  of  the  verse. 

Different  minds  will  interpret  these  contradictions 
differently.  Some  will  say  they  are  nothing  but  the 
reflex  of  the  contradictions  the  preacher  found  to 
run  through  life,  others  will  say  that  they 
represent  him  in  different  moods.  But  they  are  too 
numerous,  radical,  and  vital  to  be  disposed  of  so 


306   Old  Testament   Introduction 

easily.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  book  is 
essentially  pessimistic  :  it  ends  as  well  as  begins 
with  Vanity  of  Vanities,  xii.  8  ;  and  this  must 
therefore  have  been  the  ground-texture  of  the 
author's  mind.  Now  it  is  not  likely  to  be  an  acci- 
dent that  the  references  to  the  moral  order  and  the 
certainty  of  divine  judgment  are  not  merely  asser- 
tions :  they  can  usually,  in  their  context,  only  be  re- 
garded as  protests — as  protests,  that  is,  against  the 
context.  That  is  very  plain  in  ch.  hi.,  where  the 
order  of  the  world,  vv.  1-8,  which  the  preacher 
lamented  as  profitless,  vv.  9, 10,  is  maintained  to  be 
beautiful,  v.  11.  It  is  equally  plain  in  iii.  17,  which 
asserts  the  divine  judgment,  whereas  the  context, 
iii.  16,  denies  the  justice  of  earthly  tribunals,  and 
effectually  shuts  out  the  hope  of  a  brighter  future  by 
maintaining  that  man  dies  *  like  the  beast,  vv.  18-21. 
Of  a  similar  kind,  but  on  a  somewhat  lower  re- 
ligious level  are  the  frequent  protests  against  the 
preacher's  pessimistic  assertions  of  the  emptiness  of 
life  and  the  vanity  of  effort.  For  the  injunction  to 
eat  and  drink  and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  one's  labour 
may,  in  their  contexts,  also  be  fairly  considered  not 
simply  as  statements,  but  as  protests  (cf.  v.  18-20 
with  v.  13-17) ;  for  this  glad  love  of  life  was  tho- 
roughly representative  of  the  ancient  tradition  of 
Hebrew  life  (cf.  Jeremiah's  criticism  of  Josiah, 
xxii.  15.)  Doubtless  these  protests  could  come  from 
the  preacher's  own  soul ;  but,  considering  all  the 
phenomena,  it  is  more  natural  to  suppose  that  they 

1  Ch.  iii.  21  should  read  :  "  Who  knoweth  the  spirit  of  man, 
whether  it  goeth  upward  ?  "  This  translation  involves  no  change 
in  the  consonantal  text  and  is  supported  by  the  Septuagint. 


Ecclesiastes  307 

were  the  protests  of  others  who  were  offended  by  the 
scepticism  and  the  pessimism  of  the  book,  which 
may  well  have  had  a  wide  circulation. 

It  now  only  remains  to  ask  whether  books  re- 
garded as  Scripture  ever  received  such  treatment  as 
is  here  assumed.  Every  one  acquainted  with  the 
textual  phenomena  of  the  Old  Testament  knows 
that  this  was  a  common  occurrence.  The  Greek- 
speaking  Jews,  translating  about  or  before  the  time 
at  which  Ecclesiastes  was  written,  altered  the  simple 
phrase  in  Exodus  xxiv.  10,  "  They  saw  the  God  of 
Israel,"  to  "  They  saw  the  place  where  the  God  of 
Israel  stood."  In  Psalm  lxxxiv.  n  they  altered 
"  God  is  a  sun  (or  pinnacle  ?)  and  shield  "  to  "  God 
loves  mercy  and  truth."  They  altered  "  God  "  to 
"  an  angel  "  in  Job  xx.  15,  "  God  will  cast  them  (i.e., 
the  riches)  out  of  his  belly  "  ;  or  even  to  "  an  angel 
will  cast  them  out  of  his  house."  These  alterations 
have  no  other  authority  than  the  caprice  of  the  trans- 
lators, acting  in  the  interests  of  a  purer,  austerer, 
but  more  timid  theology.  At  the  end  of  the  Greek 
version  of  the  book  of  Job,  which  adds,  "  It  is 
written  that  Job  will  rise  again  with  those  whom  the 
Lord  doth  raise,"  we  see  how  deliberately  an  in- 
sertion could  be  made  in  theological  interests.  The 
liberties  which  the  Greek-speaking  Jews  thus 
demonstrably  took  with  the  text  of  Scripture,  we 
further  know  that  the  Hebrew-speaking  Jews  did 
not  hesitate  to  take.  A  careful  comparison  of  the 
text  of  such  books  as  Samuel  and  Kings  with 
Chronicles1  shows  that  similar  changes  were  de- 

1  Cf.,  e.g.,  the  substitution  of  Satan  in   i  Chron.  xxi.   i   for 
Jehovah  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  I. 


308    Old  Testament   Introduction 

liberately  made,  and  made  by  pious  men  in  theo- 
logical interests.  We  are  thus  perfectly  free  to 
suppose  that  the  original  text  of  Ecclesiastes,  which 
must  have  given  great  offence  to  the  stricter  Jews 
of  the  second  century  B.C.,  was  worked  over  in  the 
same  way. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  apportion  the  various 
sections  or  verses  of  the  book  with  absolute  defi- 
niteness  among  various  writers  ;  in  the  nature  of  the 
case,  such  analyses  will  always  be  more  or  less  tenta- 
tive. But  on  the  whole  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  original  book,  which  can  be  best  estimated 
by  the  more  or  less  continuous  section,  i.-iii., 
was  pervaded  by  a  spirit  of  almost,  if  not  altogether, 
unqualified  pessimism.  This  received  correction  or 
rather  protest  from  two  quarters  :  from  one  writer 
of  happier  soul,  who  believed  that  the  earth  was 
Jehovah's  (Ps.  xxiv.  i)  and,  as  such,  was  not  a 
vanity,  but  was  full  of  His  goodness  ;  and  from  a 
pious  spirit,  who  was  offended  and  alarmed  by  the 
preacher's  dangerous  challenge  of  the  moral  order, 
and  took  occasion  to  assure  his  readers  of  the  cer- 
tainty of  a  judgment  and  of  the  consequent  wisdom 
of  fearing  God.  On  any  view  of  the  book  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  see  the  relevance  of  the  collection  of  proverbs 
in  ch.  x. 

If  this  view  be  correct,  the  epilogue,  xii.  9-14, 
can  hardly  have  formed  part  of  the  original  pessi- 
mistic book.  The  last  two  verses,  in  particular,  are 
conceived  in  the  spirit  of  the  pious  protest  which 
finds  frequent  expression  in  the  book  ;  and  it  is  easy 
to  believe  that  the^words  saved  the  canonicity  of 
Ecc  esiastes,  if  indeed  they  were  not  added  for  that 


Ecclesiastes  309 

very  purpose.  The  reference  to  the  commandments 
in  v.  13  is  abrupt,  and  almost  without  parallel, 
viii.  5.  Again,  the  preacher,  who  speaks  throughout 
the  book  in  the  first  person,  is  spoken  of  here  in  the 
third,  v.  9  ;  and,  as  in  no  other  part  of  the  book, 
the  reader  is  addressed  as  "  my  son  "  v.  12  (cf.  Prov. 
i.  8.,  ii.  1,  iii.  1). 

The  value  of  Ecclesisates  is  negative  rather  than 
positive.  It  is  the  nearest  approach  to  despair  pos- 
sible upon  the  soil  of  Old  Testament  piety.  It  is 
the  voice  of  a  faith,  if  faith  it  can  be  called,  which  is 
not  only  perplexed  with  the  search,  but  weary  of 
it ;  but  it  shows  how  deep  and  sore  was  the  need  of 
a  Redeemer. 


Esther 

The  spirit  of  the  book  of  Esther  is  anything  but 
attractive.  It  is  never  quoted  or  referred  to  by 
Jesus  or  His  apostles,  and  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  think 
that  in  very  early  times,  and  even  among  Jewish 
scholars,  its  right  to  a  place  in  the  canon  was  hotly 
contested.  Its  aggressive  fanaticism  and  fierce 
hatred  of  all  that  lay  outside  of  Judaism  were  felt 
by  the  finer  spirits  to  be  false  to  the  more  generous 
instincts  that  lay  at  the  heart  of  the  Hebrew  re- 
ligion ;  but  by  virtue  of  its  very  intensity  and  ex- 
clusiveness  it  was  all  the  more  welcome  to  average 
representatives  of  later  Judaism,  among  whom  it 
enjoyed  an  altogether  unique  popularity,  attested 
by  its  three  Targums  and  two  distinct  Greek  recen- 
sions 1  — indeed,  one  rabbi  places  it  on  an  equality 
with  the  law,  and  therefore  above  the  prophets  and 
the  "  writings." 

The  story  is  well  told.  The  queen  of  Xerxes,  king 
of  Persia,  is  deposed  for  contumacy,  and  her  crown 
is  set  upon  the  head  of  Esther,  a  lovely  Jewish 
maiden.  Presently  the  whole  Jewish  race  is  im- 
perilled by  an   act  of   Mordecai,   the  foster-father 

1  It  is  probable  also  that  the  two  decrees,  one  commanding 
the  celebration  for  two  days,  ix.  20-28,  the  other  enjoining 
fasting  and  lamentations,  ix.  29-32,  are  later  additions,  designed 
to  incorporate  the  practice  of  a  later  time. 

310 


Esther  311 

of  Esther,  who  refuses  to  do  obeisance  to 
Haman,  a  powerful  and  favourite  courtier. 
Hainan's  plans  for  the  destruction  of  the  Jews  are 
frustrated  by  Esther,  acting  on  a  suggestion  of  Mor- 
decai.  The  courtier  himself  falls  from  power,  and 
is  finally  hanged  on  the  gallows  he  had  prepared 
fork>Mordecai,  while  Mordecai  "  the  Jew  "  is  exalted 
to  the  place  next  the  king,  and  the  Jews,  whom  the 
initial  decree  had  doomed  to  extermination,  turn  the 
tables  by  slaying  over  75,000  of  their  enemies 
throughout  the  empire,  including  the  ten  sons  of 
Haman.  In  memory  of  the  deliverance,  the  Purim 
festival  is  celebrated  on  the  14th  and  15th  of  the 
month  Adar. 

The  popularity  of  the  book  was  due,  no  doubt, 
most  of  all  to  the  power  with  which  it  expresses 
some  of  the  most  characteristic,  if  almost  most 
odious,  traits  of  Judaism  ;  but  also  in  a  measure  to 
its  attractive  literary  qualities.  The  setting  is 
brilliant,  and  the  development  of  the  incident  is 
often  skilful  and  dramatic.  The  elevation  of 
Mordecai,  due  to  the  simple  accident  of  the  king's 
having  passed  a  sleepless  night,  the  unexpected 
accusation  of  Haman  by  Esther,  the  swift  and  com- 
plete reversal  of  the  situation  by  which  Haman  is 
hanged  upon  his  own  gallows  and  Mordecai  receives 
the  royal  ring — the  general  sequence  of  incidents  is 
conceived  and  elaborated  with  considerable  dra- 
matic power. 

The  large  number  of  proper  names,  the  occasional 
reference  to  chronicles,  ii.  23,  vi.  1,  and  the  precise 
mention  of  dates,  combine  to  raise  the  presumption 
that  the  book  is  real  history  ;   but  a  glance  at  the 


312    Old  Testament  Introduction 

facts  is  sufficient  to  dispel  this  presumption.  The 
story  falls  within  the  reign  of  Xerxes — about  483 
B.C.,  but  the  hero  Mordecai  is  represented  as  being 
one  of  the  exiles  deported  with  Jehoiachin  in  597  B.C. 
This  is  a  manifest  impossibility.  Equally  impos- 
sible is  it  that  a  J  ewisit  maiden  can  have  become  the 
queen  of  Persia,  in  the  face  of  the  express  statement 
of  Herodotus  (iii.  84)  that  the  king  was  bound  to 
choose  his  consort  from  one  of  seven  noble  Persian 
families.  These  impossibilities  are  matched  by 
numerous  improbabilities.  It  is  improbable,  e.g., 
that  Mordecai  could  have  had  such  free  intercourse 
with  the  harem,  ii.  n,  unless  he  had  been  a  eunuch, 
or  in  the  palace,  ii.  19,  unless  he  had  been  a  royal 
official.  It  is  improbable  that  Xerxes  would  have 
announced  the  date  of  the  massacre  months  before- 
hand, improbable  that  he  would  later  have  sanctioned 
so  indiscriminate  a  slaughter  of  his  non- Jewish  sub- 
jects, and  most  improbable  of  all  that  the  Jews, 
who  were  in  the  minority,  should  have  slain  75,000 
of  their  enemies,  who  cannot  be  supposed  to  have 
been  defenceless.  It  is  much  more  likely  that  this 
wholesale  butchery  took  place  chiefly  in  the  author's 
imagination,  though  doubtless  the  wish  was  father 
to  the  thought.  Clearly  he  wrote  long  after  the 
events  he  claims  to  be  describing,  and  the  sense  of 
historical  perspective  is  obscured  where  it  is  not 
lost.  The  Persian  empire  is  a  thing  of  the  rela- 
tively distant  past,  i.  1,  13,  and  though  the  author  is 
acquainted  with  Persian  customs  and  official  titles, 
it  is  significant  that  the  customs  have  sometimes  to 
be  explained.  The  book  is,  in  fact,  not  a  history, 
but  a  historical  novel  in  miniature. 


Esther  313 

Its  date  is  hard  to  fix,  but  it  must  be  very  late, 
probably  the  latest  in  the  Old  Testament.  In  spite 
of  its  obvious  attempt  to  reproduce  the  classic 
Hebrew  style,  the  book  contains  Aramaisms,  late 
Hebrew  words  and  constructions,  and  the  language 
alone  stamps  it  as  late.  Still  more  decisive,  how- 
ever, is  its  sentiment.  Its  intensely  national  pride, 
its  cruel  and  fanatical  exclusiveness,  can  be  best 
explained  as  the  result  of  a  fierce  persecution  fol- 
lowed by  a  brilliant  triumph  ;  and  this  condition  is 
exactly  met  by  the  period  which  succeeded  the 
Maccabean  wars  (135  B.C.  or  later).  The  book,  with 
its  Persian  setting,  may  indeed  have  been  written 
earlier  in  Persia  ;  but  it  more  probably  represents 
a  phase  of  the  fierce  Palestinian  Judaism  of  the  last 
half  of  the  second  century  B.C.  It  has  been  suggested 
with  much  probability  that  Haman  is  modelled  on 
Antiochus  Epiphanes  ;  between  their  murderous 
designs  against  the  Jews  there  is  certainly  a  strong 
resemblance,  iii.  9,  1  Mace.  i.  41,  iii.  34-36. 

The  object  of  the  book  appears  to  have  been 
twofold;:  to  explain  the  origin  of  the  Purim  festival, 
and  to  glorify  the  Jewish  people.  The  real  explan- 
ation of  the  festival  is  shrouded  in  mystery.  The 
book  traces  it  to  the  triumph  of  the  Jews  over  their 
enemies  and  connects  it  with  Pur,  ix.  26,  supposed 
to  mean  "  lot  "  ;  but  no  such  Persian  word  has  yet 
been  discovered.  Doubtless,  however,  the  book  is 
correct  in  assigning  the  origin  of  the  festival  to 
Persia.  A  festival  with  a  somewhat  dissimilar  name 
— Farwardigan — was  held  in  Persia  in  spring  to 
commemorate  the  dead,  and  there  may  be  just  a 
hint  of  this  in  the  fasting  with  which  the  festival 


314   Old   Testament   Introduction 

was  preceded,  ix.  31,  cf.  1  Sam.  xxxi.  13,  2  Sam.  i. 
12.  The  Babylonians  had  also  held  a  new  year 
festival  in  spring,  at  which  the  gods,  under  the  pre- 
sidency of  Marduk,  were  supposed  to  draw  the  lots 
for  the  coming  year  :  this  may  have  been  the  ulti- 
mate origin  of  the  "  lot,"  which  is  repeatedly 
emphasized  in  the  book  of  Esther,  hi.  7,  ix.  24,  26. 
In  other  words,  the  Jews  adopted  a  Persian  festival, 
which  had  already  incorporated  older  Babylonian 
elements  ;  for  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
ultimate  ground-work  of  the  book  is  Babylonian 
mythology.  Esther  is  so  similar  to  Istar,  and 
Mordecai  to  Marduk,  that  their  identity  is  hardly 
questionable  ;  and  in  the  overthrow  of  Haman  by 
Mordecai  it  is  hard  not  to  see  the  reproduction  of 
the  overthrow  of  Hamman,  the  ancient  god  of  the 
Elamites,  the  enemies  of  the  Babylonians,  by  Mar- 
duk, god  of  the  Babylonians.  This  supposition 
leaves  certain  elements  unexplained — Vashti,  e.g., 
is  without  Babylonian  analogy,  but  it  is  too  probable 
an  explanation  to  be  ignored  ;  and  it  goes  to  illus- 
trate the  profound  and  lasting  influence  of  Baby- 
lonia upon  Israel.  The  similarity  of  the  name 
Esther  to  Amestris,  who  was  Xerxes'  queen  (Hdt. 
vii.  114,  ix.  112)  may  account  for  the  story  being 
set  in  the  reign  of  Xerxes. 

A  collateral  purpose  of  the  book  is  the  glorification 
of  the  Jews.  In  the  dramatic  contest  between 
Haman  the  Agagite  and  Mordecai  the  Jew,  the 
latter  is  victor.  He  refuses  to  bow  before  Haman, 
and  Providence  justifies  his  refusal ;  for  the  Jews 
are  born  to  dominion,  and  all  who  oppose  or  oppress 
them   must   fall.     Everywhere  their  superiority  is 


Esther  315 

apparent  :  Esther  the  Jewess  is  fairer  than  Vashti, 
and  Mordecai,  like  Joseph  in  the  old  days,  takes  his 
place  beside  the  king. 

What  we  regretfully  miss  in  the  book  is  a  truly 
religious  note.  It  is  national  to  the  core  ;  but,  for 
once  in  the  Old  Testament,  nationality  is  not  wedded 
to  a  worthy  conception  of  God.  Too  much  stress 
need  not  be  laid  on  the  absence  of  His  name — this 
may  have  been  due  to  the  somewhat  secular  charac- 
ter of  the  festival  with  its  giving  and  receiving  of 
presents — and  the  presence  of  God,  as  the  guardian 
of  the  fortunes  of  Israel,  is  presupposed  throughout 
the  whole  story,  notably  in  Mordecai's  confident  hope 
that  enlargement  and  deliverance  would  arise  to  the 
Jews  from  one  place,  if  not  from  another,  iv.  14. 
But  the  religion  of  the  book — for  religion  it  is 
entitled  to  be  called — is  absolutely  destitute  of 
ethical  elements.  It  is  with  a  shudder  that  we  read 
of  Esther's  request  for  a  second  butchery,  ix.  13  ; 
and  all  the  romantic  glamour  of  the  story  cannot 
blind  us  to  its  religious  emptiness  and  moral  de- 
pravity. In  a  generation  which  had  smarted  under 
the  persecution  of  Antiochus  and  shed  its  blood  in 
defence  of  its  liberty  and  ancestral  traditions,  such 
bitter  fanaticism  is  not  unintelligible.  But  the 
popularity  of  the  book  shows  how  little  the  prophetic 
elements  in  Israel's  religion  had  touched  the  people's 
heart,  and  how  stubborn  a  resistance  was  sure  to  be 
offered  to  the  generous  and  emancipating  word  of 
Jesus. 


Daniel 

Daniel  is  called  a  prophet  in  the  New  Testament 
(Matt.  xxiv.  15).  In  the  Hebrew  Bible,  however, 
the  book  called  by  his  name  appears  not  among  the 
prophets,  but  among  "  the  writings,"  between 
Esther  and  Ezra.  The  Greek  version  placed  it 
between  the  major  and  the  minor  prophets,  and  this 
has  determined  its  position  in  modern  versions 
The  book  is  both  like  and  unlike  the  prophetic  books. 
It  is  like  them  in  its  passionate  belief  in  the  over- 
ruling Providence  of  God  and  in  the  sure  consum- 
mation of  His  kingdom  ;  but  in  its  peculiar  sym- 
bolism, imagery,  and  pervading  sense  of  mystery  it 
stands  without  a  parallel  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  impulse  to  the  type  of  prophecy  represented  by 
Daniel  was  given  by  Ezekiel  and  Zechariah.  The 
book  is  indeed  rather  apocalyptic  than  prophetic. 
The  difference  has  been  well  characterized  by 
Behrmann.  "  The  essential  distinction,"  he  re- 
marks, "  between  prophecy  and  apocalyptic  lies  in 
this  :  the  prophets  teach  that  the  present  is  to  be 
interpreted  by  the  past  and  future,  while  the 
apocalyptic  writers  derive  the  future  from  the  past 
and  present,  and  make  it  an  object  of  consolatory 
hope.  With  the  prophets  the  future  is  the  servant 
and  even  the  continuation  of  the  present ;  with  the 

316 


Daniel  317 


apocalyptic  writers  the  future  is  the  brilliant 
counterpart  of  the  sorrowful  present,  over  which  it 
is  to  lift  them."  This  will  be  made  most  plain  by  a 
summary  of  the  book  itself. 

Chs.  i.-vi.  are  narrative  in  form  ;  chs.  vii.-xii.  are 
prophetic  or  apocalyptic — they  deal  with  visions. 
Curiously  enough  ii.  4-vii.  28,  for  no  apparent  reason, 
are  written  in  Aramaic.  In  ch.  i.  Daniel  and  his 
three  friends,  Jewish  captives  at  the  court  of  Baby- 
lon, prove  their  fidelity  to  their  religion  by  refusing 
to  defile  themselves  with  the  king's  food.  At  the 
end  of  three  years  they  show  themselves  superior  to 
the  "  wise  "  men  of  the  empire.  Then  (ii.)  follows 
a  dream  of  Nebuchadrezzar,  in  which  a  great  image 
was  shivered  to  pieces  by  a  little  stone,  which  grew 
till  it  rilled  the  whole  world.  Daniel  alone  could 
retell  and  interpret  the  dream  :  it  denoted  a  suc- 
cession of  kingdoms,  which  would  all  be  ultimately 
overthrown  and  succeeded  by  the  everlasting  king- 
dom of  God.  Ch.  iii.  deals  not  with  Daniel  but  with 
his  friends.  It  tells  the  story  of  their  refusal  to  bow 
before  Nebuchadrezzar's  colossal  image  of  gold,  and 
how  their  fidelity  was  rewarded  by  a  miraculous 
deliverance,  when  they  were  thrown  into  the  furnace 
or  fire.  The  supernatural  wisdom  of  Daniel  is  again 
illustrated  in  ch.  iv.,  where  he  interprets  a  curious 
dream  of  Nebuchadrezzar  as  a  token  that  he  would 
be  humbled  for  a  time  and  bereft  of  his  reason. 
Ch.  v.  affords  another  illustration  of  the  wisdom  of 
Daniel,  and  of  the  humiliation  of  impiety  and  pride, 
this  time  in  the  person  of  Belshazzar,  who  is  regarded 
as  Nebuchadrezzar's  son.  Daniel  interprets  the 
enigmatic  words  written  by  the  mysterious  hand  on 


3 1 8    Old   Testament  Introduction 

the  wall  as  a  prediction  of  the  overthrow  of  Bel- 
shazzar's  kingdom,  which  dramatically  happens 
that  very  night.  Ch.  vi.  is  intended  to  teach  how 
precious  to  God  are  those  who  trust  Him  and 
scrupulously  conform  to  the  practices  of  true  re- 
ligion without  regard  to  consequences.  Daniel  is 
preserved  in  the  den  of  lions  into  which  he  had  been 
thrown  by  the  cruel  jealousy  of  the  officials  of 
Darius'  empire. 

With  ch.  vii.  Daniel's  visions  begin.  Four  great 
beasts  are  seen  coming  up  out  of  the  sea,  which, 
according  to  Babylonian  mythology,  is  the  element 
opposed  to  the  divine.  The  last  of  the  beasts, 
especially  cruel  and  terrible,  had  ten  horns,  and 
among  them  a  little  horn  with  human  eyes  and  pre- 
sumptuous lips.  Then  is  seen  the  divine  Judge 
upon  His  throne,  and  the  presumptuous  beast  is 
judged  and  slain.  Before  this  same  Judge  is  brought 
one  like  a  son  of  man,  who  comes  with  the  clouds  of 
heaven — this  human  and  heavenly  figure  being  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  beasts  that  rise  out  of  the 
sea.  Daniel  is  informed  that  the  beasts  represent 
four  kingdoms,  whose  dominion  is  to  be  superseded 
by  the  dominion  of  the  saints  of  the  most  High,  i.e. 
by  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  will  be  everlasting. 
In  a  second  vision  (viii.)  a  powerful  ram  is  furiously 
attacked  and  overthrown  by  a  goat.  The  angel 
Gabriel  explains  that  the  ram  is  the  Medo-Persian 
empire,  and  the  goat  is  the  king  of  Greece,  clearly 
Alexander  the  Great.  From  one  of  the  four  divi- 
sions of  Alexander's  empire,  a  cunning,  impudent 
and  impious  king  would  arise  who  would  abolish  the 
daily  sacrifice  and  lay  the  temple  in  ruins,  but  by  a 


Daniel  319 

miraculous  visitation  he  would  be  destroyed.  In 
ch.  ix.  Daniel,  after  a  fervent  penitential  prayer 
offered  in  behalf  of  his  sinful  people,  is  enlightened 
by  Gabriel  as  to  the  true  meaning  of  Jeremiah's 
prophecy  (xxv.  n.  f .,  xxix.  iof.)  touching  the  desola- 
tion of  Jerusalem.  The  seventy  years  are  not 
literal  years,  but  weeks  of  years,  i.e.  490  years. 
During  the  last  week  (i.e.  seven  years)  there  would 
be  much  sorrow  and  persecution,  especially  during 
the  last  half  of  that  period,  but  it  would  end  in  the 
utter  destruction  of  the  oppressor. 

In  another  vision  (x.-xii.)  Daniel  is  informed  by 
a  shining  one  of  a  struggle  he  had  had,  supported  by 
Michael,  with  the  tutelary  angel  of  Persia  ;  and  he 
makes  a  revelation  of  the  future.  The  Persian 
empire  will  be  followed  by  a  Greek  empire,  which 
will  be  divided  into  four.  In  particular,  alliances 
will  be  formed  and  wars  made  between  the  kings  of 
the  north  (no  doubt  Syria)  and  the  south  (Egypt). 
With  great  elaboration  and  detail  the  fortunes  of 
the  king  of  the  north,  who  is  called  contemptible, 
xi.  21,  are  described  :  how  he  desecrates  the 
sanctuary,  abolishes  the  sacrifice,  cruelly  persecutes 
the  holy  people,  and  prescribes  idolatrous  worship. 
At  last,  however,  he  too  perishes,  and  his  death  is 
the  signal*that  the  Messianic  days  are  very  soon  to 
dawn.  Israel's  dead — especially  perhaps  her  mar- 
tyred dead — are  to  rise  to  everlasting  life,  and  her 
enemies  are  also  to  be  raised  to  everlasting  shame. 
Well  is  it  for  him  who  can  possess  his  soul  in  patience, 
for  the  end  is  sure. 

Two  facts  are  obvious  even  to  a  cursory  inspection 


320   Old  Testament  Introduction 

of  the  contents  of  Daniel  (i),  that  certain  statements 
about  the  exilic  period,  during  which,  according  to 
the  book,  Daniel  lived,  are  inaccurate  ;  and  (2) 
towards  the  close  of  the  book  and  especially  in  ch. 
xi.,  which  represents  a  period  long  subsequent  to 
Daniel,  the  visions  are  crowded  with  minute  detail 
which  corresponds,  point  for  point,  with  the  history 
of  the  third  and  second  centuries  B.C.,  and  in  par- 
ticular with  the  career  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
(xi.  21-45). 

(1)  Among  the  unhistorical  statements  the  fol- 
lowing may  be  noted.  There  was  no  siege  and  cap- 
ture of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadrezzar  in  605  B.C.,  as 
is  implied  by  i.  1  (cf.  Jer.  xxv.  1,  9-11),  nor  indeed 
could  there  have  been  any  till  after  the  decisive 
battle  of  Carchemish,  which  brought  Western  Asia 
under  the  power  of  Babylon.  Again,  Belshazzar  is 
regarded  as  the  son  of  Nebuchadrezzar  (v.),  though 
he  was  in  reality  the  son  of  Nabunaid,  between 
whom  and  Nebuchadrezzar  three  monarchs  lay. 
Nor  is  there  any  room  in  this  period  of  the  history 
(538  B.C.)  for  "  Darius  the  Mede,"  v.  31  ;  the  con- 
quest of  Babylon  threw  the  Babylonian  empire 
immediately  into  the  hands  of  Cyrus,  and  the  im- 
possible figure  of  Darius  the  Mede  appears  to  arise 
through  a  confusion  with  the  Darius  who  recaptured 
Babylon  after  a  revolt  in  521,  and  perhaps  to  have 
been  suggested  by  prophecies  (cf.  Isa.  xiii.  17)  that 
the  Medes  would  conquer  Babylon.  Again,  though 
in  certain  passages  the  Chaldeans  represent  the 
people  of  that  name,  v.  30,  ix.  1,  in  others  (cf.  ii.  2, 
v.  7)  the  word  is  used  to  denote  the  wise  men  of 
Babylon — a  use  demonstrably  much  later  than  the 


Daniel  321 

Babylonian  empire  and  impossible  to  any  con- 
temporary of  Daniel.  Such  a  seven  years'  insanity 
of  Nebuchadrezzar  as  is  described  in  Daniel  iv.  is 
extremely  improbable  ;  equally  improbable  is  the 
attitude  that  Nebuchadrezzar  in  his  decree  (hi.)  and 
confession  (iv.)  and  Darius  in  his  decree  (vi.)  are  re- 
presented as  having  adopted  towards  the  God  of  the 
Jews. 

(2)  Concerning  the  immediately  succeeding  period 
—from  Cyrus  to  Alexander— the  author  is  apparently 
not  well  informed.  He  knows  of  only  four  Persian 
kings,  xi.  2  (cf.  vii.  6).  Ch.  xi.  5-20  gives  a  brief 
resume  of  the  relations  between  the  kings  of  the  north 
and  the  kings  of  the  south— which,  in  this  context, 
after  a  plain  allusion  in  vv.  3,  4  to  Alexander  the 
Great  and  the  divisions  of  his  empire,  can  only  be 
interpreted  of  Syria  and  Egypt.  From  v.  21,  how- 
ever, to  the  end  of  ch.  xi.  interest  is  concentrated 
upon  one  particular  person,  who  must,  in  the  con- 
text, be  a  king  of  the  north,  i.e.  Syria.  The  direct 
reference  in  v.  31  to  the  pollution  of  the  sanctuary, 
the  temporary  abolition  of  sacrifice,  and  the  erection 
of  a  heathen  altar,  put  it  beyond  all  doubt  that 
the  impious  and  "  contemptible  "  monarch  is  none 
other  than  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  This  conclusion 
is  confirmed  by  the  details  of  the  section,  with  their 
unmistakable  references  to  his  Egyptian  campaigns, 
vv.  25-28,  and  to  the  check  imposed  upon  him  by 
the  Romans,  v.  30,  in  168  B.C. 

The  phenomenon  then  with  which  we  have  to  deal 
is  this.  A  book  supposed  to  come  from  the  exile, 
and  to  announce  beforehand  the  persecutions  and 
ultimate  triumph  of  the  Jewish  people  in  the  second 


21 


322    Old  Testament  Introduction 

century  B.C.  is  occasionally  inaccurate  in  dealing 
with  the  exilic  and  early  post-exilic  period,  but 
minute  and  reliable  as  soon  as  it  touches  the  later 
period.  Only  one  conclusion  is  possible — that  the 
book  was  written  in  the  later  period,  not  in  the 
earlier.  It  is  a  product  of  the  period  which  it  so 
minutely  reflects,  168-165  B.C.  The  precise  date  of 
the  book  depends  upon  whether  we  regard  viii.  14 
as  implying  that  the  dedication  of  the  temple  by 
Judas  Maccabaeus  in  165  B.C.  is  a  thing  of  the  past 
or  still  an  object  of  contemplation.  In  any  case  it 
must  have  been  written  before  the  death  of  Anti- 
ochus  in  164  (xi.  45).  Like  all  the  prophets,  the 
author  of  Daniel  addresses  his  own  age.  The  bril- 
liant Messianic  days  are  always  the  issue  of  the 
existing  or  impending  catastrophe  ;  and  so  it  is  in 
Daniel.  The  redemption  which  is  to  involve  the 
resurrection  is  to  follow  on  the  death  of  Antiochus 
and  the  cessation  of  the  horrors  of  persecution — 
horrors  of  which  the  author  knew  only  too  well.1 

Thus  the  belief  in  the  late  date  of  the  book  is 
reached  by  a  study  of  the  book  itself,  and  is  not  due 
to  any  prejudice  against  the  possibility  of  miracle 
or  predictive  prophecy.  But  the  late  date  is  con- 
firmed by  evidence  of  other  kinds,  especially  (1) 
linguistic,  and  (2)  theological,  (r)  There  are  over 
a  dozen  Persian  words  in  the  book,  some  even  in  the 


1  Daniel  is  fittingly  chosen  as  the  hero  of  the  book  and  the 
recipient  of  the  visions,  as  he  appears  to  have  enjoyed  a  reputa- 
tion for  piety  and  wisdom  (Ezek.  xiv.  14,  20,  xxviii.  3).  Ezekiel's 
references  to  him,  however,  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  he  is  a 
figure  belonging  to  the  gray  patriarchial  times,  rather  than  a 
younger  contemporary  of  his  own. 


Daniel  323 

Babylonian  part  of  the  story.  These  words  would 
place  the  book,  at  the  earliest,  within  the  period  of 
the  Persian  empire  (538-331  B.C.).  Further,  within 
two  verses,  hi.  4,  5,  occur  no  less  than  five  Greek 
words  (herald,  harp,  trigon,  psaltery  and  bagpipe), 
one  of  which,  psanterin,  by  its  change  of  1  (psa/terion) 
into  n,  betrays  the  influence  of  the  Macedonian  dialect 
and  must  therefore  be  later  than  the  conquests  of 
Alexander,  and  another,  symfthonia,  is  first  found  in 
Plato.  Though  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  names 
of  the  other  musical  instruments  may  have  been 
taken  over  by  the  Semites  from  the  Greeks  at  an 
early  time,  these  words  at  any  rate  practically  com- 
pel us  to  put  the  book,  at  the  earliest,  within  the 
Greek  period  (i.e.  after  331  B.C.).  Further,  the 
Hebrew  of  the  book  has  a  strongly  Aramaic  flavour. 
It  is  not  classical  Hebrew  at  all,  but  has  marked 
affinities,  both  in  vocabulary  and  syntax,  with  some 
of  the  latest  books  in  the  Old  Testament,  such  as 
Chronicles  and  Esther. 

(2)  The  theology  of  Daniel  undoubtedly  represents 
one  of  the  latest  developments  within  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. The  transcendence  of  God  is  emphasized. 
He  is  frequently  called  "  the  God  of  Heaven," 
ii.  18,  19,  and  once  "  heaven  "  is  used,  as  in  the  later 
manner  (cf.  Luke  xv.  18)  almost  as  a  synonym  for 
"  God,"  iv.  26.  As  God  becomes  more  transcendent, 
angels  become  more  prominent  :  they  constitute  a 
very  striking  feature  in  the  book  of  Daniel — two  of 
them  are  even  named,  Gabriel  and  Michael.  Very 
singular,  too,  and  undoubtedly  late  is  the  conception 
that  the  fortunes  of  each  nation  are  represented  and 
guarded  in  heaven  by  a  tutelary  angel,  x.  13m   20. 


324   Old  Testament  Introduction 

The  view  of  the  future  life  in  xii.  2,  3  is  the  most 
advanced  in  the  Old  Testament  :  not  only  the  nation 
but  the  individuals  shall  be  raised,  and  of  the  indi- 
viduals not  only  the  good  (cf.  Isa.  xxvi.  14,  19)  but 
the  bad,  to  receive  the  destiny  which  is  their  due. 
These  facts  so  conclusively  suggest  a  late  date  for 
the  book  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  emphasize  Daniel's 
prayer  three  times  a  day  with  his  face  towards 
Jerusalem,  vi.  10,  though  this  is  not  without  its 
significance.1 

The  interpretation  of  this  difficult  book  loses  much 
of  its  difficulty  as  soon  as  we  recognize  it  to  be  a 
product  of  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  It  is 
best  to  begin  withch.  xi.,  for  there  the  allusions  are, 
in  the  main,  unmistakable  and  undeniable.  Antiochus 
is  the  last  of  the  kings  of  the  north,  i.e.  Syria, 
regarded  as  one  of  the  divisions  of  the  Greek  empire 
of  Alexander  the  Great.  Without  enigma  or  sym- 
bolism of  any  kind,  the  Persian  empire  is  mentioned 
in  xi.  2  as  preceding  the  Greek,  and  in  v.  1  as  being 
preceded  by  the  Median,  which  in  its  turn  had  been 
preceded  by  the  Babylonian.  Here,  then,  in  the 
plainest  possible  terms,  is  a  succession  of  four 
empires — Babylonian,  Median,  Persian,  Greek — the 
last  to  be  succeeded  by  the  kingdom  of  God  (ch.  xii.)  ; 
and  with  this  key  in  our  hand  we  can  unlock  the 
secret  of  chs.  vii.  and  ii. 

In  ch.  vii.  the  four  kingdoms,  represented  by  the 
four  beasts  and  contrasted  with  the  humane  kingdom 

1  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  reference  to  "  the  books  " 
from  which  the  prophecy  of  Jeremiah  is  quoted  in  ix.  2  seems  to 
imply  that  the  prophetic  canon  of  Scripture  was  already  closed  ; 
and  this  was  hardly  the  case  before  200  B.C. 


Daniel  325 


which  is  to  follow  them,  are  no  doubt  these  very  same 
kingdoms,  as  are  also  the  four  kingdoms  of  ch.  ii., 
symbolized  by  the  different  parts  of  the  colossal 
image  of  Nebuchadrezzar's  dream  :  the  little  stone 
which  destroys  the  image  is  again  the  kingdom  of 
God.  In  ch.  viii.  the  ram  with  the  two  unequal 
horns  is  the  Medo-Persian  empire,  and  the  goat 
which  overthrows  the  ram  is  symbolic  of  the  Greek- 
empire,  founded  by  Alexander. 

These  great  features  of  the  book  are  practically 
certain.  It  is  further  extremely  probable  that,  in 
spite  of  a  noticeable  difference  in  the  context,  the 
"  little  horn  "  of  viii.  9  is  the  same  as  the  little  horn 
of  vii.  8,  20  :  the  detail  of  both  descriptions — the 
war  with  the  saints,  the  destruction  of  the  temple, 
the  abolition  of  the  sacrifice — is  an  undisguised 
allusion  to  Antiochus  Epiphanes  in  his  persecution 
of  the  faithful  Jews  and  his  efforts  to  extirpate  their 
religion.  The  one  like  a  son  of  man  in  vii.  13  is 
almost  certainly  not  the  Messiah  :  coming  as  he 
does  with  the  clouds  of  heaven,  he  is  the  symbol  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  in  contrast  to  the  beasts,  which 
emerge  from  the  ungodly  sea  and  symbolize  the 
empires  of  this  world.  Again,  his  being  "  like  a 
man  "—for  this  is  probably  all  that  the  phrase 
means— is  meant  to  suggest  that  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  essentially  human  and  humane,  in  contrast 
to  the  four  preceding  kingdoms,  which  arc  essentially 
brutal  and  cruel.  This  interpretation,  which  the 
contrasts  practically  necessitate,  is  made  as  certain 
as  may  be  by  vv.  18,  22,  27,  where  the  kingdom  and 
dominion,  which  in  v.  13  are  assigned  to  one  like  a 
son  of  man,  are  assigned  in  similar  terms  to  "  the 


326   Old   Testament  Introduction 

people  of  the  saints  of  the  most  High,"  i.e.  the 
faithful  Jews. 

The  passages  whose  interpretation  is  least  certain 
occur  in  ch.  ix.  In  each  of  two  consecutive 
verses,  vv.  25L,  is  a  reference  to  an  "  anointed  one  " 
— a  different  person  being  intended  in  each  case. 
The  question  of  their  identity  involves  the  further 
question  of  the  precise  interpretation  of  the  prophecy 
of  the  seventy  weeks.  In  ix.  2  Daniel  is  reminded 
by  a  study  of  Jeremiah  (xxv.  nf.,  xxix.  10)  of  the 
prophecy  that  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem  would 
last  for  seventy  years.  But  it  is  not  over  yet.1 
Gabriel  then  explains,  v.  24,  that  the  years  are  in 
reality  weeks  of  years,  i.e.  by  the  seventy  years 
prophesied  by  Jeremiah  are  really  meant  490  years. 
The  period  of  seventy  weeks,  thus  interpreted,  is 
further  subdivided  in  vv.  25,  26  (a  passage  almost 
unintelligible  in  the  Authorized  Version)  into  three 
periods,  viz.  seven  weeks  (  =  forty-nine  years),  sixty- 
two  weeks,  and  one  week  (  =  seven  years). 

With  the  first  and  last  periods  there  is  no  difficulty. 
Starting  from  586  B.C.,  the  date  of  the  exile,  forty- 
nine  years  would  bring  us  to  537,  just  about  the 
time  assigned  to  the  edict  of  Cyrus,  which  permitted 
the  Jews  to  return  and  rebuild  their  city.  Cyrus 
would  thus  be  "  the  anointed,  the  prince,"  and  it  is 
an  interesting  corroboration  of  this  view  that  Cyrus 
is  actually  called  the  anointed  in  Isaiah  xlv.  1. 
Now,  as  the  book  ends  with  the  anticipated  death 
of  Antiochus  in  164  B.C.,  the  last  week  would  repre- 

1  Another  incidental  proof  that  the  book  is  late.  In  the  time 
presupposed  by  it  for  the  activity  of  Daniel,  the  seventy  years 
had  not  yet  expired,  and  so  there  could  have  been  no  problem. 


Daniel  327 

sent  the  years  171  to  164  ;  and  in  171  the  high  priest, 
who,  as  such,  would  naturally  be  an  anointed  one, 
was  assassinated.  Attention  is  specially  called  to 
the  sorrows  of  the  last  half  of  the  last  week,  when  the 
sacrifice  would  be  taken  away.  This  corresponds 
almost  exactly  with  the  suspension  of  the  temple 
services  from  168  to  165  ;  and  this  period,  again,  is 
that  which  is  elsewhere  characterized  as  "a  time, 
and  times,  and  half  a  time,"  i.e.  three  and  a  half 
years  (vii.  25,  xii.  7),  or  "  2,300  evenings-mornings," 
i.e.  1,150  days  (viii.  14)  or  1,290  or  1,335  days  (xii. 
11,  12).  These  varying  estimates  of  the  period,  not 
differing  widely,  probably  suggest  that  the  book 
was  written  at  intervals,  and  not  all  at  once.  The 
beginning  and  the  close  of  the  seventy  weeks  or  490 
years  are  thus  satisfactorily  explained  ;  but  the 
period  between  537  and  171  represents  366  instead 
of  434  years,  as  the  sixty-two  weeks  demand. 
Probably  the  simplest  explanation  of  the  difficulty 
is  that  during  much  of  this  long  period  the  Jews  had 
no  fixed  method  of  computing  time.  Also  it  ought 
not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  numbers  are,  in  any 
case,  partly  symbolical,  and  ought  not  to  be  too 
strictly  pressed.  For  the  purposes  of  the  author, 
the  first  and  last  periods  are  more  important  than 
the  middle. 

The  precise  interpretation  of  the  enigmatic  writing 
on  the  wall  (mene,  tekel,  pores,  v.  28)  is  uncertain. 
It  has  been  cleverly  explained  as  equivalent  to  "a 
mina  ( =60  shekels),  a  shekel  and  a  part  "  (i.e.  about 
sixty-two)  and  regarded  as  a  cryptogram  for  Darius, 
who,  according  to  v.  31,  was  on  the  eve  of  destroying 
Belshazzar's    kingdom.     More    probably  it  simply 


328    Old  Testament   Introduction 

means  "  number,  weigh,  divide  " — the  ambiguity 
being  caused  by  the  different  possibilities  of  pointing 
and  therefore  of  precisely  interpreting  these  words, 
which  were  of  course  unpointed  in  the  original. 
Further,  in  the  word  peres  (divide),  there  is  a  veiled 
allusion  to  the  Persians. 

It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  fact  that  part  of 
the  book,  ii.  4-vii.,  is  written  in  Aramaic.     It  has 
been  supposed  that  the  author  began  to  use  that 
language  in  ii.  4,  either  because  he  regarded  that  as 
the  language  spoken  by  the  wise  men,  or  because 
they,    being   aliens,    must   not   be   represented   as 
speaking  in  the  sacred  tongue  ;    and  that,  having 
once  begun  to  use  it,  and  being  equally  familiar  with 
both  languages,  he  kept  it  up  till  he  came  to  the 
more  purely  prophetic  part  of  the  book,  in  which  he 
would    naturally   recur    to    the    more    appropriate 
Hebrew.     Ch.  vii.,  on  this  view,  is  difficult  to  account 
for,  as  it,  no  less  than  viii.-xii.,  is  prophetic  ;    and 
we  should  then  have  to  assume,  rather  unnaturally, 
that  the  vision  in  ch.  vii.  was  written  in  Aramaic 
because  it  so  strongly  resembled  the  dream  of  ch.  ii. 
Besides  it  is  not  certain  that  the  word  "  in  Aramaic  " 
in  ii.  4  is  meant  to  suggest  that  the  wise  men  spoke 
in  that  language  :  it  may  have  originally  been  only 
a    marginal    note    to    indicate    that    the    Aramaic 
section   begins  here,  just  as  vii.  28a  may    indicate 
the    end    of    the    section.      Some    have    supposed 
that    part     of    a     book     originally    Hebrew     was 
translated    into    the    more     popular    Aramaic,    or 
that  part  of  a  book  originally  Aramaic  was  trans- 
lated  into   the  sacred   Hebrew   tongue.     The  diffi- 
culty in  either  case  is  to  account  reasonably  for 


Daniel  329 


the  presence  of  Aramaic  in  that  particular  section 
which  does  not  coincide  with  either  of  the  main 
divisions  of  the  book  (narrative  or  apocalyptic),  but 
appears  in  both  (i.-vi.,  vii.-xii.).  Probably,  as 
Peters  has  suggested,  the  Aramaic  portion  repre- 
sents old  and  popular  folk-stories  about  Daniel  and 
his  friends,  that  language  being  retained  because  in 
it  the  stories  were  familiarly  told,  while  for  the  more 
prophetic  or  apocalyptic  message  the  sacred  lan- 
guage was  naturally  used.  Ch.  vii.,  however,  pre- 
sents a  stumbling-block  on  any  view  of  the  Aramaic 
section.  The  Aramaic  of  the  book  is  that  spoken 
when  the  book  was  written  :  it  was  certainly  not  the 
language  spoken  by  the  Babylonian  wise  men.  It 
is  most  improbable  that  they  would  have  used 
Aramaic  at  all ;  and  if  they  had,  it  would  not  have 
been  the  dialect  of  the  book  of  Daniel,  which  is  a 
branch  of  western  Aramaic,  spoken  in  and  around 
Palestine. 

In  spite  of  its  somewhat  legendary  and  apocalyp- 
tic form,  the  religious  value  of  Daniel  is  very  high. 
It  is  written  at  white  heat  amid  the  fires  of  persecu- 
tion, and  it  is  inspired  by  a  passionate  faith  in  God 
and  in  the  triumph  of  His  kingdom  over  the  cruel 
and  powerful  kingdoms  of  the  world.  Its  object 
was  to  sustain  the  tried  and  tempted  faith  of  the 
loyal  Jews  under  the  fierce  assaults  made  upon  it  by 
Antiochus  Epiphanes.  Never  before  had  there  been 
so  awful  a  crisis  in  Jewish  history.  In  586  the  temple 
had  been  destroyed,  but  that  was  practically  only 
an  incident  in  or  the  consequence  of  the  destruction 
of  the  city  ;    but  Antiochus  had  made  a  deliberate 


3  3°   Old   Testament   Introduction 

attempt  to  exterminate  the  Jewish  religion.  It  was 
to  console  and  strengthen  the  faithful  in  this  crisis 
that  the  book  was  written.  The  author  reminds  his 
readers  that  there  is  a  God  in  heaven,  and  that  He 
reigns,  iv.  26.  He  bids  them  lift  their  eyes  to  the 
past  and  shows  them  how  the  fidelity  of  men  like 
Daniel  and  his  friends  was  rewarded  by  deliverance 
from  the  lions  and  the  flames.  He  bids  them  lift 
their  eyes  to  the  future,  the  very  near  future  :  let 
them  only  be  patient  a  little  longer,  xii.  12,  and  their 
enemies  will  be  crushed,  and  the  kingdom  of  God 
will  come — that  kingdom  which  shall  know  no  end. 

It  is  of  especial  interest  that  Antioehus  died  at  the 
time  when  our  author  predicted  he  would,  in  164  B.C., 
though  not,  as  he  had  anticipated,  in  Palestine, 
xi.  45.  In  the  kingdom  that  was  so  swiftly  coming, 
the  lives  that  had  been  lost  on  its  behalf  would  be 
found  again  :  the  martyrs  would  rise  to  everlasting 
life.  The  narrative,  parts  have  an  application  to 
the  times  not  much  less  immediate  than  the  apocalyp- 
tic. The  proud  and  mighty,  like  Nebuchadrezzar, 
are  humbled  :  the  impious,  like  Belshazzar,  who 
drank  wine  out  of  the  temple  vessels,  are  slain. 
Any  contemporary,  reading  these  tales,  would  be 
bound  to  think  of  Antioehus,  who  had  demolished 
the  temple  and  suspended  the  sacrifices.  So 
Daniel's  refusal  to  partake  of  the  king's  food  was 
well  calculated  to  encourage  men  who  had  been  put 
to  the  torture  for  declining  to  eat  swine's  flesh. 

Man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity.  However 
cruel  the  sufferings  or  desperate  the  outlook,  yet  the 
Lord  is  mindful  of  His  own,  and  He  will  Himself 
deliver    them.    For   one   of   the   most    impressive 


Daniel  331 


features  of  the  book  is  its  utter  confidence  in  God 
and  its  refusal  to  appeal  to  the  sword  (Ps.  cxlix.  6). 
It  counsels  to  patience,  xii.  12.  Without  human 
hands,  God's  kingdom  comes,  ii.  34,  and  His  enemies 
are  destroyed,  viii.  25.  In  the  most  skilful  way,  the 
book  reaches  its  splendid  climax.  It  moves  steadily 
on,  from  a  distant  past  in  which  God's  servants  had 
been  rewarded  and  His  enemies  crushed,  down 
through  the  centuries  in  which  successive  empires 
were  all  unconsciously  working  out  His  predeter- 
mined plan,  and  on  to  the  darkest  days  in  history — 
so  dark,  because  the  glorious  and  everlasting  king- 
dom of  God  was  so  soon  to  dawn. 


Ezra-Nehemiah 

Some  of  the  most  complicated  problems  in  Hebrew 
history  as  well  as  in  the  literary  criticism  of  the  Old 
Testament  gather  about  the  books  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah.  Apart  from  these  books,  all  that  we 
know  of  the  origin  and  early  history  of  Judaism  is 
inferential.  They  are  our  only  historical  sources 
for  that  period  ;  and  if  in  them  we  have,  as  we 
seem  to  have,  authentic  memoirs,  fragmentary 
though  they  be,  written  by  the  two  men  who,  more 
than  any  other,  gave  permanent  shape  and  direction 
to  Judaism,  then  the  importance  and  interest  of 
these  books  is  without  parallel  in  the  Old  Testament, 
for  nowhere  else  have  we  history  written  by  a  con- 
temporary who  shaped  it. 

It  is  just  and  practically  necessary  to  treat  the 
books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  together.  Their  con- 
tents overlap,  much  that  was  done  by  Ezra  being  re- 
corded in  the  book  of  Nehemiah  (viii.-x.).  The 
books  are  regarded  as  one  in  the  Jewish  canon  ;  the 
customary  notes  appended  to  each  book,  stating 
the  number  of  verses,  etc.,  are  appended  only  to 
Nehemiah  and  cover  both  books  ;  the  Septuagint 
also  regards  them  as  one.  There  are  serious  gaps  in 
the  narrative,  but  the  period  they  cover  is  at  least  a 
century  (538-432  B.C.).  A  brief  sketch  of  the  books 
as  they  stand  will  suggest  their  great  historical  in- 
terest and  also  the  historical  problems  they  involve. 

33a 


Ezra-Nehemiah  333 


In  accordance  with  a  decree  of  Cyrus  in  538  B.C. 
the  exiled  Jews  return  to  Jerusalem  to  build  the 
temple  (Ezra  i.).  Then  follows  a  list  of  those  who 
returned,  numbering  42,360  (ii.).  An  altar  was 
erected,  the  feast  of  booths  was  celebrated,  and  the 
regular  sacrificial  system  was  resumed.  Next  year, 
amid  joy  and  tears,  the  foundation  of  the  temple  was 
laid  (hi.).  The  request  of  the  Samaritans  for  per- 
mission to  assist  in  the  building  of  the  temple  was 
refused,  with  the  result  that  they  hampered  the 
activity  of  the  Jews  continuously  till  520  B.C. 
(iv.  1-5,  24).  Similar  opposition  was  also  offered 
during  the  reigns  of  Xerxes  and  Artaxerxes,  when 
the  governor  of  Samaria  formally  accused  the  Jews 
before  the  Persian  government  of  aiming  at  in- 
dependence in  their  efforts  to  rebuild  the  city  walls, 
and  in  consequence  the  king  ordered  the  suspension 
of  the  building  until  further  notice,  iv.  6-23.  Under 
the  stimulus  of  the  preaching  of  Haggai  and  Zecha- 
riah,  the  real  work  of  building  the  temple  was  begun 
in  520  B.C.  The  enterprise  roused  the  suspicion 
of  the  Persian  governor,  who  promptly  commu- 
nicated with  Darius.  The  Jews  had  appealed  to 
the  decree  of  Cyrus  granting  them  permission  to 
build,  and  this  decree  was  found,  after  a  search,  at 
Ecbatana.  Whereupon  Darius  gave  the  Jews  sub- 
stantial support,  the  buildings  were  finished  and 
dedicated  in  516  B.C.,  and  a  great  passover  feast 
was  held  (v.,  vi.). 

The  scene  now  shifts  to  a  period  at  any  rate 
fifty-eight  years  later  (458  B.C.)  Armed  with  a 
commission  from  Artaxerxes,  Ezra  the  scribe,  of 
priestly  lineage,  arrived,  with  a  company  of  laity 


334   Old  Testament  Introduction 

and  clergy,  at  Jerusalem  from  Babylon,  with  the 
object  of  investigating  the  religious  condition  of 
Judah  and  of  teaching  the  law  (vii.).  Before 
leaving  Babylon  he  had  proclaimed  a  fast  with 
public  humiliation  and  prayer,  and  taken  scrupu- 
lous precautions  to  have  the  offerings  for  the  temple 
safely  delivered  at  Jerusalem.  When  they  reached 
the  city,  they  offered  a  sumptuous  burnt-offering 
and  sin-offering  (viii.).  Soon  complaints  are  lodged 
with  Ezra  that  leading  men  have  been  guilty  of 
intermarriage  with  heathen  women,  and  he  pours 
out  his  soul  in  a  passionate  prayer  of  confession 
(ix.).  A  penitent  mood  seizes  the  people  ;  Ezra 
summons  a  general  assembly,  and  establishes  a 
commission  of  investigation,  which,  in  about  three 
months,  convicted  113  men  of  intermarriage  with 
foreign  women  (x.). 

The  history  now  moves  forward  about  fourteen 
years  (444  B.C.).  Nehemiah,  a  royal  cup-bearer 
in  the  Persian  palace,  hears  with  sorrow  of  the  dis- 
tress of  his  countrymen  in  Judea,  and  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  (Neh.  i.).  With 
the  king's  permission,  and  armed  with  his  support, 
he  visited  Jerusalem,  and  kindled  in  the  whole 
community  there  the  desire  to  rebuild  the  walls 
(ii.).  The  work  was  prosecuted  with  vigour,  and, 
with  one  exception,  participated  in  by  all  (iii.). 
The  foreign  neighbours  of  Jerusalem,  provoked  by 
their  success,  meditated  an  attack — a  plan  which 
was,  however,  frustrated  by  the  preparations  of 
Nehemiah  (iv.).  Nehemiah,  being  interested  in  the 
social  as  well  as  the  political  condition  of  the  com- 
munity,   unflinchingly    rebuked    the    unbrotherly 


Ezra-Nehemiah  335 

treatment  of  the  poor  by  the  rich,  appealing  to  his 
own  very  different  conduct,  and  finally  induced  the 
nobles  to  restore  to  the  poor  their  mortgaged  pro- 
perty (v.).  By  cunning  plots,  the  enemy  repeatedly 
but  unsuccessfully  sought  to  secure  the  person  of 
Nehemiah  ;  and  in  fifty-two  days  the  walls  were 
finished  (vi.).  He  then  placed  the  city  in  charge  of 
two  officials,  taking  precautions  to  have  it  strongly 
guarded  and  more  thickly  peopled  (vii.). 

At  a  national  assembly,  Ezra  read  to  the  people 
from  the  book  of  the  law,  and  they  were  moved  to 
tears.  They  celebrated  the  feast  of  booths,  and 
throughout  the  festival  week  the  law  was  read 
daily  (viii.).  The  people,  led  by  the  Levites  (under 
Ezra,  ix.  6,  LXX.),  made  a  humble  confession  of  sin 
(ix.),  and  the  prayer  issued  in  a  covenant  to  abstain 
from  intermarriage  with  the  heathen  and  trade  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  and  to  support  the  temple  service  (x.). 

The  population  of  the  city  was  increased  by  a 
special  draft,  selected  by  lot  from  those  resident 
outside,  and  also  by  a  body  of  volunteers  (xi.). 
After  a  series  of  lists  of  priestly  and  Levitical  houses, 
one  of  which  *  is  carried  down  to  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  xii.  1-26,  the  walls  were 
formally  dedicated,  and  steps  were  taken  to  secure 
the  maintenance  of  the  temple  service  and  officers, 
xii.  27-47.  On  his  return  to  Jerusalem  in  432  B.C. 
Nehemiah  enforced  the  sanctity  of  the  temple,  and 
instituted  various  reforms,  affecting  especially  the 
Levitical  dues,  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
intermarriage  with  foreigners,  xiii. 

1  According  to  Josephus,  Jaddua  (Neh.  xii.  22)  was  high  priest 
in  the  time  of  Alexander  (about  330  B.C.  ?). 


336   Old  Testament   Introduction 

The  difficulties  involved  in  this  presentation  of 
the  history  are  of  two  kinds — inconsistencies  with 
assured  historical  facts,  and  improbabilities.  Per- 
haps the  most  important  illustration  of  the  former 
is  to  be  found  in  Ezra  hi.  There  not  only  is  an  altar 
immediately  built  by  the  returned  exiles — a  state- 
ment not  in  itself  improbable — but  the  foundation  of 
the  temple  is  laid  soon  after,  iii.  10,  and  the  ceremon}' 
is  elaborately  described  (536  B.C.).  The  foundation 
is  also  presupposed  for  this  period  elsewhere  in  the 
book  (cf .  v.  16,  in  an  Aramaic  document).  Now  this 
statement  is  at  least  formally  contradicted  by  v. 
2,  where  it  is  expressly  said  that,  under  the  stimulus 
of  the  preaching  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  who  did 
not  prophesy  till  520  B.C.,  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua 
began  to  build  the  house  of  God.  This  is  confirmed 
by  the  very  explicit  statements  of  these  two  pro- 
phets themselves,  whose  evidence,  being  contem- 
porary, is  unchallengeable.  Haggai  gives  the  very 
day  of  the  foundation,  ii.  18,  and  Zechariah  iv.  9 
says,  "  The  hands  of  Zerubbabel  have  laid  the 
foundation  of  this  house."  It  is  not  impossible  to 
surmount  the  difficulty  by  assuming  that  the  laying 
of  the  foundation  in  536  B.C.  was  a  purely  formal 
ceremony  while  the  real  work  was  not  begun  till 
520  ;  still,  it  is  awkward  for  this  view  that  the 
language  of  two  contemporary  prophets  is  so  ex- 
plicit. And  in  any  case,  the  statement  in  Ezra  v.  16 
that  u  since  that  time  (i.e.  536)  even  until  now 
(520)  hath  the  temple  been  in  building  "  is  not 
easy  to  reconcile  with  what  we  know  from  contem- 
porary sources  ;  the  whole  brunt  of  Haggai's  in- 
dictment is  that  the  people  have  been  attending  to 


Ezra-Nehemiah  337 

their  own  houses  and  neglecting  Jehovah's  house, 
which  is  in  consequence  desolate  (Hag.  i.  4,  9). 

The  most  signal  illustration  of  the  improbabilities 
that  arise  from  the  traditional  order  of  the  book 
lies  in  the  priority  of  Ezra  to  Nehemiah.  On  the 
common  view,  Ezra  arrives  in  Jerusalem  in  458  B.C. 
(Ezra  vii.  7,  8),  Nehemiah  in  444  (Neh.  ii.  1).  But 
the  situation  which  Ezra  finds  on  his  arrival  appears 
to  presuppose  a  settled  and  orderly  life,  which  was 
hardly  possible  until  the  city  was  fortified  and  the 
walls  built  by  Nehemiah  ;  indeed,  Ezra,  in  his 
prayer,  mentions  the  erection  of  the  walls  as  a 
special  exhibition  of  the  divine  love  (Ezra  ix.  9). 
Further,  Nehemiah's  memoirs  make  no  allusion  to 
the  alleged  measures  of  Ezra  ;  and,  if  Ezra  really 
preceded  Nehemiah,  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  none 
of  the  reformers  who  came  with  him  from  Babylon 
should  be  mentioned  as  supporting  Nehemiah. 
Again,  the  measures  of  Nehemiah  are  mild  in  com- 
parison with  the  radical  measures  of  Ezra.  Ezra, 
e.g.  demands  the  divorce  of  the  wives  (Ezra  x.  nff.), 
whereas  Nehemiah  only  forbids  intermarriage  be- 
tween the  children  (Neh.  xiii.  25).  In  short,  the 
work  of  Nehemiah  has  all  the  appearance  of  being 
tentative  and  preliminary  to  the  drastic  reforms 
of  Ezra.  The  history  certainly  gains  in  intelligi- 
bility if  we  assume  the  priority  of  Nehemiah,  and 
the  text  does  not  absolutely  bind  us.  Ezra's 
departure  took  place  "  in  the  seventh  year  of 
Artaxerxes  the  king"  (Ezra  vii.  7).  Even  if  we 
allow  that  the  number  is  correct,  it  is  just  possible 
that  the  king  referred  to  is  not  Artaxerxes  I  (465- 
424),  but  Artaxerxes  II  (4<H~359)-     In  that  case> 


338    Old  Testament   Introduction 

the  date  of  Ezra's  arrival  would  be  397  B.C.  ;  in 
any  case,  the  number  of  the  year  may  be  incorrect. 

Any  doubt  which  might  arise  as  to  the  possibility 
of  so  serious  a  transformation  is  at  once  met  by  an 
indubitable  case  of  misplacement  in  Ezra  iv.  6-23. 
The  writer  is  dealing  with  the  alleged  attempts  of 
the  Samaritans  to  frustrate  the  building  of  the 
temple  between  536  and  520  B.C.  (Ezra  iv.  1-5), 
and  he  diverges  without  warning  into  an  account 
of  a  similar  opposition  during  the  reigns  of  Xerxes 
(485-465)  and  Artaxerxes  (465-424)  (Ezra  iv.  6-23), 
resuming  his  interrupted  story  of  the  building  of  the 
temple  in  ch.  v.  The  account  in  iv.  6-23  is  alto- 
gether irrelevant,  as  it  has  to  do,  not  with  the 
temple,  but  with  the  building  of  the  city  walls,  iv.  12. 

Such  peculiarities  and  dislocations  are  strange  in  a 
historical  writing,  and  they  are  to  be  explained  by  the 
fact  that  the  book  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  is  not  so  much 
a  connected  history  as  a  compilation .  The  sources  and 
spirit  of  this  compilation  we  shall  now  consider.  First 
and  of  surpassing  importance  are  {a,  b)  what  are 
known  as  the  I-sections — verbal  extracts  in  the  first 
person,  from  the  memoirs  of  Erza  and  Nehemiah  : — 

(a)  Ezra  vii.  27-ix.,  except  viii.  35,  36. 

(b)  Neh.  i.-vii.  5,  xii.  27-43,  xiii.  4-31. 

(c)  Other  sections,  though  they  are  not  actually 
extracts  from  the  memoirs,  appear  to  rest  directly 
on  them  :  cf.  Ezra  vii.  1-10,  x.,  Neh.  viii.-x.  In 
these  sections  Ezra  is  spoken  of  in  the  third  person. 

(d)  Of  great  interest  and  importance  are  the 
Aramaic  sections,  Ezra  iv.  jb-vi.  18  and  vii.  12-26, 
involving  correspondence  with  the  Persian  court  or 
royal  rescripts. 


Ezra-Nehemiah  339 

(e)  Finally,  there  are  occasional  lists,  such  as  Neh. 
xii.  1-260,  or  Neh.  vii.  6-69,  a  list  of  the  returning 
exiles,  incorporated  in  the  memoirs  of  Nehemiah 
from  some  earlier  list  and  borrowed  in  Ezra  ii. 

These  are  the  chief  sources,  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  they  were  compiled — that  is  put  to- 
gether and  in  certain  cases  worked  over — by  the 
Chronicler.  That  suspicion  is  at  once  raised  by 
the  fact  that  Ezra-Nehemiah  is  a  strict  continua- 
tion of  the  book  of  Chronicles,1  though  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible  Chronicles  appears  last,  because, 
having  to  compete  with  Samuel  and  Kings, 
it  won  its  canonical  position  later  than  Ezra- 
Nehemiah.  But  apart  from  this,  the  phraseology, 
style  and  point  of  view  of  the  Chronicler  are  very 
conspicuous.  There  is  the  same  love  of  the  law, 
the  same  interest  in  Leviticalism,  the  same  joy  in 
worship,  the  same  fondness  for  lists  and  numbers. 
He  must  have  lived  a  century  or  more  after  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah ;  he  looks  back  in  Neh.  xii.  47  to  "  the 
days  of  Nehemiah,"  and  he  must  himself  have 
belonged  to  the  Greek  period.  One  of  his  lists  men- 
tions a  Jaddua,  a  high  priest  in  the  time  of  Alexan- 
der the  Great.  He  speaks  of  the  king  of  Persia 
(Ezra  i.  1),  and  of  Darius  the  Persian2  (Neh.  xii. 
22),  as  one  to  whom  the  Persian  empire  was  a  thing 
of  the  past  ;  contemporaries  simply  spoke  of  "  the 
king,"  Ezra  iv.  8. 

Many  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  book  are  ex- 

1  Note  that  the  opening  verses  of  Ezra  are  repeated  at  the 
end  of  Chronicles  to  secure  a  favourable  ending  to  the  book— the 
more  so  as  that  was  the  last  book  of  the  Hebrew  Bible. 

2  In  Ezra  vi.  22  Darius  is  even  called  the  king  of  Assyria. 


34°   Old   Testament   Introduction 

plained  the  moment  it  is  seen  to  be  a  late  compila- 
tion. The  compiler  selected  from  his  available 
material  whatever  suited  his  purpose  ;  he  makes 
no  attempt  to  give  a  continuous  account  of  the 
period.  He  leaves  without  scruple  a  gap  of  sixty 
years  or  more  *  between  Ezra  vi.  and  vii.  He  in- 
terpolates a  comment  of  his  own  in  the  middle  of 
the  original  memoirs  of  Nehemiah.2  He  transcribes 
the  same  list  twice  (Ezra  ii.,  Neh.  vii.),  which  looks 
as  if  he  had  found  it  in  two  different  documents. 
He  gives  passages  irrelevant  settings  (cf.  Ezra  iv. 
6-23).  He  passes  without  warning  from  the  first 
person  in  Ezra  ix.  to  the  third  person  in  Ezra  x., 
showing  that  he  does  not  regard  himself  as  the 
slave,  but  as  the  master,  of  his  material.  Whatever 
may  be  thought  of  the  view  that  he  has  reversed 
the  chronological  order  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  the 
book  undoubtedly  contains  misplaced  passages. 
Ezra  x.  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  conclusion  to  the 
account  of  Ezra,  whereas  Neh.  viii.-x.,  which  deal 
with  the  work  of  Ezra  and  its  issue  in  a  covenant, 
form  an  admirable  sequel  to  Ezra  x.,  and  have 
almost  certainly  been  misplaced. 

We  cannot  be  too  grateful  to  him  for  giving  intact 
the  vivid  and  extremely  important  account  of 
the  activity  of  Nehemiah  the  layman  in  Nehemiah's 
own  words  (i.-vii.  5)  ;  at  the  same  time,  his  own 
interests  are  almost  entirely  ecclesiastical.     Unlike 


1  Unless  we  take  into  account  the  brief  misplaced  section  in 
iv.  6-23. 

2  Cf.  especially  xii.  47  with  its  reference  to  "  the  days  of 
Nehemiah,"  whereas  in  xii.  40,  xiii.  6,  etc.,  Nehemiah  speaks  in 
the  first  person.     Ch.  xii.  44-47  at  least  belongs  to  the  Chronicler. 


Ezra-Nehemiah  341 

Ezra  (viii.  15ft. )>  he  says  little  of  the  homeward 
journey  of  the  exiles  in  537,  but  much  of  the  temple 
vessels  (Ezra  i.)  and  of  the  arrangements  for  the 
sacrificial  system,  iii.  4-6.  He  dwells  at  length  on 
the  laying  of  the  foundation  stone  of  the  temple, 
iii.  8-13,  on  the  Samaritan  opposition  to  the  build- 
ing, iv.  1-5,  on  the  passover  festival  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  temple  when  it  was  finished,  vi.  19-22. 
He  amplifies  the  Nehemiah  narratives  at  the  point 
where  the  services  and  officers  of  the  temple  are  con- 
cerned. 

The  influence  of  the  Chronicler  is  unmistakable 
even  in  the  Aramaic  documents,  whose  authenticity 
one  would  on  first  thoughts  expect  to  be  guaranteed 
by  their  language.  Aramaic  would  be  the  natural 
language  of  correspondence  between  the  Persian 
court  and  the  western  provinces  of  the  empire,  and 
these  official  documents  in  Aramaic  one  might 
assume  to  be  originals  ;  but  an  examination  reveals 
some  of  the  editorial  terms  that  characterize  the 
Hebrew.  A  decree  of  Darius  is  represented  as 
ending  with  the  prayer  that  "  the  God  that  hath 
caused  His  name  to  dwell  there  (i.e.  at  Jerusalem) 
may  overthrow  all  kings  and  peoples  that  shall  put 
forth  their  hand  to  destroy  this  house  of  God  which 
is  at  Jerusalem  "  (Ezra  vi.  13).  To  say  nothing  of 
the  first  clause,  which  has  a  suspicious  resemblance 
to  the  language  of  Deuteronomy,  such  a  wish  ad- 
dressed to  the  God  of  the  Jews  is  anything  but 
natural  on  the  lips  of  a  Persian.  Again,  there  are 
several  distinctively  Jewish  terms  of  expression  in 
the  rescript  given  by  Artaxerxes  to  Ezra,  e.g.  the 
detailed  allusion  to  sacrifices  in  Ezra  vii.  17.     This, 


342    Old  Testament   Introduction 

however,  might  easily  be  explained  by  assuming 
that  Ezra  himself  had  had  a  hand  in  drafting  the 
rescript,  which  is  not  impossible. 

The  question,  however,  is  for  the  historian  a  very 
serious  one  :  how  great  were  the  liberties  which  the 
Chronicler  allowed  himself  in  the  manipulation  of 
his  material  ?  It  is  interesting  in  this  connexion  to 
compare  his  account  of  the  decree  of  Cyrus  on  behalf 
of  the  Jewish  exiles  in  Ezra  i.  2-4  with  the  Aramaic 
version  in  vi.  3-5,  which  has  all  the  appearance  of 
being  original.  The  difference  is  striking.  Cyrus 
speaks  in  ch.  i.  as  an  ardent  Jehovah  worshipper ; 
but  the  substance  of  the  edict  is  approxi- 
mately correct,  though  its  form  is  altogether  un- 
historical  and  indeed  impossible.  The  Chronicler's 
idealizing  tendency  is  here  very  apparent  ;  and  it  is 
not  impossible  that  this  has  elsewhere  affected  his 
presentation  of  the  facts  as  well  as  the  form  of  his 
narrative.  In  the  light  of  the  very  plain  statements 
of  the  contemporary  prophets  Haggai  and  Zechariah, 
we  are  justified  in  doubting  whether,  in  Ezra  iii., 
the  Chronicler  has  not  antedated  the  foundation  of 
the  temple.  To  him  it  may  well  have  seemed  in- 
conceivable that  the  returned  exiles  should — 
whatever  their  excuse — have  waited  for  sixteen 
years  before  beginning  the  work  which  to  him  was 
of  transcendent  importance. 

It  is  possible,  too,  that  prophecy  may  have  in- 
fluenced his  presentation  of  the  history.  He  throws 
into  the  very  forefront  a  prophecy  of  Jeremiah 
(xxv.  12),  and  regards  the  decree  of  Cyrus  as  its 
fulfilment  (Ezra  i.  1).  He  may  also  have  had  in 
mind  the  words  of  the  great  exilic  prophet  who  had 


Ezra-  Nehemiah  343 

represented  Cyrus  as  issuing  the  command  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  the  temple  (Isa.  xliv.  28) ;  and  he 
may  in  this  way  have  thrown  into  the  period  im- 
mediately after  the  return  activities  which  properly 
belong  to  the  period  sixteen  years  later.  But  it  is 
perfectly  gratuitous,  on  the  strength  of  this,  to 
doubt,  as  has  recently  been  done,  the  whole  story  of 
the  return  in  537  B.C.  Those  who  do  so  point  out 
that  the  audience  addressed  by  Haggai,  i.  12,  14, 
ii.  2,  and  Zechariah  viii.  6,  is  described  as  the 
remnant  of  the  people  of  the  land — that  is,  it  is 
alleged,  of  those  who  had  been  left  behind  at  the 
time  of  the  captivity.  No  doubt  the  better-minded 
among  these  would  lend  their  support  to  the  efforts 
of  Haggai  and  Zechariah  to  re-establish  the  worship, 
but  this  community  as  a  whole  must  have  been  too 
dispirited  and  indifferent  to  have  taken  such  a  step 
without  the  impulse  supplied  by  the  returned  exiles. 
The  devotion  of  the  native  population  to  Jehovah, 
not  great  to  begin  with — for  it  was  the  worst  of  the 
people  who  were  left  behind — must  have  deteriorated 
through  intermarriage  with  heathen  neighbours 
(Neh.  xiii.,  Ezra  ix.  x.)  ;  and  without  a  return  in 
537  on  the  strength  of  the  edict  of  Cyrus,  the  whole 
situation  and  sequel  are  unintelligible.  The  Chroni- 
cler's version  of  the  decree  of  Cyrus  throws 
a  flood  of  light  upon  his  method.  It  cannot  be 
fairly  said  that  he  invents  facts ;  he  may  modify, 
amplify  and  transpose,  but  always  on  the  basis  of 
fact.  His  fidelity  in  transcribing  the  memoirs  of 
Nehemiah  is  proof  that  he  was  not  unscrupulous  in 
the  treatment  of  his  sources. 

It  remains  to  consider  briefly  the  value  of  these 


344   Old   Testament  Introduction 

sources.  The  authenticity  of  the  memoirs  of 
Nehemiah  is  universally  admitted.  Similar  phrases 
are  continually  recurring,  e.g.  "  the  good  hand  of  my 
God  upon  me,"  ii.  8,  18,  and  the  whole  narrative  is 
stamped  with  the  impress  of  a  brave,  devout, 
patriotic  and  resourceful  personality.  The  authen- 
ticity of  the  memoirs  of  Ezra  has  been  disputed  with 
perhaps  a  shadow  of  plausibility.  The  language  of 
the  memoirs  distinctly  approximates  to  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Chronicler  himself,  though  this  can  be 
fairly  accounted  for,  either  by  supposing  that  the 
spirit  and  interests  of  Erza  the  priest  were  largely 
identical  with  those  of  the  Chronicler,  or  that  the 
Chronicler,  recognizing  his  general  affinity  with  Ezra, 
hesitated  less  than  in  the  case  of  Nehemiah  to  con- 
form the  language  of  the  memoirs  to  his  own. 
But  more  serious  charges  have  been  made.  It  has 
been  alleged  that  the  account  of  the  career  of  Ezra 
has  been  largely  modelled  on  that  of  Nehemiah,  as 
that  of  Elisha  on  Elijah,  and  that  legendary  elements 
are  traceable,  e.g.  in  the  immense  wealth  brought  by 
Ezra's  company  from  Babylon  (Ezra  viii.  24-27). 
These  reasons  do  not  seem  altogether  convincing. 
The  Chronicler  stood  relatively  near  to  Ezra. 
Records  and  lists  were  kept  in  that  period,  and  he 
was  no  doubt  in  possession  of  more  first-hand 
documentary  information  than  appears  in  his  book. 
There  is  no  obvious  motive  for  the  writer  who  so 
faithfully  transcribed  the  memoirs  of  Nehemiah, 
inventing  so  vivid,  coherent  and  circumstantial  a 
narrative  for  Ezra  in  the  first  person  singular  (Ezra 
vii.  27-ix.). 

The  question  of  the  Ezra   memoirs  raises  the 


Ezra-Nehemiah  345 

further  question  of  the  Aramaic  documents.  The 
memoirs  are  immediately  preceded  by  the  Aramaic 
rescript  of  Artaxerxes  permitting  Ezra  to  visit 
Jerusalem  for  the  purpose  of  reorganizing  the 
Jewish  community  (Ezra  vii.  12-26).  Doubt  has 
been  cast  upon  the  authenticity  of  this  document 
on  the  strength  of  its  undeniably  Jewish  colouring  ; 
but  this,  as  we  have  seen,  is  probably  to  be  explained 
by  the  not  unnatural  assumption  that  Ezra  himself 
had  a  hand  in  its  preparation.  Its  substantial 
authenticity  seems  fully  guaranteed  by  the  spon- 
taneous and  warm-hearted  outburst  of  gratitude 
to  God  with  which  Ezra  immediately  follows  it 
(Ezra  vii.  27ft) :  "  Blessed  be  Jehovah,  the  God  of  our 
fathers,  who  hath  put  such  a  thing  as  this  in  the 
king's  heart,"  etc.  A  similar  criticism  may  be  made 
in  general  on  the  Aramaic  document,  Ezra  iv.  yb- 
vi.  18.  It  is  certain,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the 
document  has  been  retouched  by  the  Chronicler  ; 
but  the  whole  passage  and  especially  the  royal 
decrees  are  substantially  authentic.  Attention  has 
been  called  to  the  Persian  words  which  they  con- 
tain, though  this  alone  is  not  decisive,  as  they  might 
conceivably  be  due  to  a  later  author  ;  but  the 
authenticity  of  the  decree  of  Cyrus  is  practically 
guaranteed  by  the  story  that  it  was  discovered  at 
Ecbatana  (Ezra  vi.  2).  Had  it  been  a  fiction,  the 
scene  of  the  discovery  would  no  doubt  have  been 
Babylon  or  Susa. 

After  making  allowance,  then,  for  the  Chronicler's 
occasionally  cavalier  treatment  of  his  sources,  we 
have  to  admit  that  the  sources  themselves  are  of  the 
highest  historical  value,  though  in  order  to  secure 


346    Old  Testament   Introduction 

a  coherent  view  of  the  period,  they  have,  in  all  pro- 
bability, to  be  rearranged.  No  rearrangement  can 
be  considered  as  absolutely  certain,  but  the  following, 
which  is  adopted  by  several  scholars,  has  internal 
probability  : — 

Ezra  i.-iv.  5,  iv.  24- vi.,  followed  by  about  seventy 
years  of  silence  (516-444  B.C.).  Neh.  i.-vi.,  Ezra^iv. 
6-23,  Neh.  vii.1-69  ( =  Ezra  ii.),  Neh.  xi.,  xii.,  xiii. 
4-31,  Ezra  vii.,  viii.,  Neh.  vii.  70-viii.,  Ezra  ix.-x. 
9,  Neh.  xiii.  1-3,  Ezra  x.  10-44,  Neh.  ix.,  x. 

Despite  their  enormous  difficulties,  Ezra-Nehe- 
miah  are  a  source  of  the  highest  importance  for  the 
political  and  religious  history  of  early  Judaism. 
The  human  interest  of  the  story  is  also  great — the 
problems  for  religion  created  by  intermarriage 
(Neh.  xiii.  23fL,  Ezra  ix.,  x.),  and  the  growth  of 
the  commercial  spirit  (Neh.  xiii.  15-22).  The 
figure  of  Ezra,  though  not  without  a  certain  devout 
energy,  is  somewhat  stiff  and  formal ;  but  the 
personality  revealed  by  the  memoirs  of  Nehemiah 
is  gracious  almost  to  the  point  of  romance.  Seldom 
did  the  Hebrew  people  produce  so  attractive  and 
versatile  a  figure — at  once  a  man  of  prayer  and  of 
action,  of  clear  swift  purpose,  daring  initiative,  and 
resistless  energy,  and  endowed  with  a  singular 
power  of  inspiring  others  with  his  own  enthusiasm. 
He  forms  an  admirable  foil  to  Ezra  the  ecclesiastic  ; 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  supreme  satisfaction  that  we 
have  the  epoch-making  events  in  his  career  told  in 
his  own  direct  and  vigorous  words. 


Chronicles 

The  comparative  indifference  with  which  Chronicles 
is  regarded  in  modern  times  by  all  but  professional 
scholars  seems  to  have  been  shared  by  the  ancient 
Jewish  church.  Though  written  by  the  same  hand 
as  wrote  Ezra-Nehemiah,  and  forming,  together 
with  these  books,  a  continuous  history  of  Judah,  it 
is  placed  after  them  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  of  which 
it  forms  the  concluding  book  ;  and  this  no  doubt 
points  to  the  fact  that  it  attained  canonical 
distinction  later  than  they.  Nor  is  this  unnatural. 
The  book  of  Kings  had  brought  the  history  down 
to  the  exile  of  Judah  ;  and  the  natural  desire  to  see 
the  history  carried  from  its  new  starting  point  in 
the  return  and  restoration  through  post-exilic  times 
is  met  by  the  book  of  Ezra-Nehemiah,  to  which 
there  was  no  rival,  whereas  Chronicles  had  a  rival 
in  the  existing  and  popular  books  of  Samuel  and 
Kings. 

The  book,  whose  name  Chronicles  is  borrowed 
by  Luther  from  Jerome,  is  very  late.  Ezra-Nehe- 
miah with  which  Chronicles  goes  must  be,  as  we 
have  seen,1  as  late  as  Alexander  the  Great  ;  but  the 
lateness  of  Chronicles  can  be  proved  without  going 
beyond    the    book    itself.     The    Hebrew    text    of 

!See  p.   355. 
347 


348    Old   Testament   Introduction 

i  Chron.  iii.  igff.  carries  the  date  six  generations 
beyond  Zerubbabel  (520  B.C.),  that  is,  at  the  earliest, 
to  350  B.C.,  while  the  Greek  text  postulates  eleven 
generations,  which  would  compel  us  to  come  as  late 
as  250  B.C.  We  shall  not  go  far  astray  if  we  con- 
sider the  date  as  roughly  300  B.C.  It  is  thus  seven 
centuries  later  than  the  reign  of  David,  with  whose 
ecclesiastical  enterprises  it  deals  so  elaborately,  and 
about  two  and  a-half  centuries  from  the  exile,  with 
which  it  closes.  The  distance  of  the  record  from 
the  events  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  when  estimating 
its  religious  spirit  and  historical  value. 

The  book  of  Chronicles  is  an  ecclesiastical  history 
in  a  sense  very  much  more  severe  than  the  book 
of  Kings  ;  on  every  page  it  reflects  the  ritual  in- 
terests which  were  predominant  when  the  book  was 
written.  To  it  the  only  history  worth  recording 
is  the  history  of  Judah.  The  first  ten  chapters  are 
occupied  with  the  preparation  for  that  history,  and 
the  rest  of  the  book  (1  Chron.  xi.-2  Chron.  xxxvi.) 
with  the  history  itself  from  the  coronation  of  David 
to  the  exile.  Israel  is  the  apostate  kingdom  ;  she 
had  revolted  alike  from  Judah  and  Jehovah,  and 
had  been  swept  for  her  sins  into  exile,  from  which 
she  never  emerged  again.  The  Chronicler  makes 
a  man  of  God  say  to  Amaziah,  "  Jehovah  is  not  with 
Israel,"  2  Chron.  xxv.  7,  and  this  exactly  repre- 
sents his  own  attitude.  He  therefore  all  but 
absolutely  ignores  the  history  of  the  northern  king- 
dom, touching  upon  it  only  where  it  is  in  some 
special  way  implicated  in  the  history  of  Judah. 

This  practically  exclusive  attention  of  the 
Chronicles  to  Judah  is  based  upon  her  unique  re- 


Chronicles  34.9 

ligious  or  rather  ecclesiastical  importance.  In 
Judah  God  made  Himself  known  as  nowhere  else 
(cf.  Ps.  lxxvi.  1,2);  she  was  the  religious  metropolis 
of  the  world  (Ps.  lxxxvii.) ;  Jerusalem  was  the 
capital  of  Judah,  and  the  temple  was  the  centre  of 
Jerusalem.  Therefore  the  temple  and  its  affairs 
completely  dwarf  all  other  interests.  Not  only  is 
the  story  in  Kings  of  its  building  and  dedication  by 
Solomon  repeated  and  expanded  (2  Chron.  i.-ix.), 
but  the  story  of  David's  reign  (1  Chron.  xi.-xxix.) 
is  almost  entirely  monopolized  by  an  account  of  the 
arrangements  which  he  made  for  the  temple  ordi- 
nances and  the  material  which  he  collected  for  the 
building.  He  is  said  to  have  given  Solomon  a  plan 
of  the  temple  with  all  its  furniture  and  sundry  other 
details,  the  pattern  of  which  he  is  said  to  have  himself 
received  from  the  hand  of  God  (xxviii).  Every 
opportunity  is  taken  in  the  course  of  the  history  to 
dwell  with  an  affectionate  elaboration  of  detail  on 
the  temple  services  or  festivals  ;  and  the  resultant 
contrast  between  the  corresponding  accounts  of  the 
same  reign  in  Kings  and  Chronicles  is  often  very 
singular — nowhere  more  so  than  in  the  story  of 
Hezekiah,  most  of  which  is  devoted  to  an  account  of 
the  great  passover  held  in  connexion  with  the  re- 
formation (2  Chron.  xxix.,  xxx.). 

The  Chronicler  betrays,  if  possible,  even  more 
interest  in  the  Levites  than  in  the  priests.  It  is  a 
Levite  who  is  moved  by  the  Spirit  to  encourage 
Jehoshaphat  before  the  battle  (2  Chron.  xx.  14), 
and  special  attention  is  called  to  their  enthusiasm 
at  the  reformation  of  Hezekiah  (2  Chron.  xxix.  34). 
The  Chronicler  also  displays  exceptional  interest  in 


3  5°   Old  Testament  Introduction 

the  musical  service — in  his  account,  e.g.,  of  the  in- 
auguration of  the  temple  and  of  the  passovers  of 
Hezekiah  and  Josiah  ;  so  that  it  has  been  not  un- 
reasonably conjectured  that  the  author  was  him- 
self a  Levite  and  a  member  of  one  of  the  guilds  of 
temple  singers  or  musicians. 

Since,  then,  the  interests  of  the  Chronicler  are  so 
undeniably    ecclesiastical,    the    question    may    be 
fairly  raised  how  far  his  narrative  is  strictly  histori- 
cal.    It  must  be  confessed,  e.g.,  that  the  impression 
made  by  his  account   of  David  is  distinctly  un- 
natural and  improbable,  in  the  light  of  the  graphic 
biography  in  i  and  2  Samuel.     It  is  not  a  supple- 
mentary picture,  but  an  altogether  different  one. 
The  versatile  minstrel-warrior  of  the  earlier  books 
is  transformed  into  a  saint,  whose  supreme  aim  in 
life  is  the  service  of  religion  ;  and  this  transforma- 
tion is  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  Chronicler. 
He  deals    with    his    literary  sources  in  the  most 
sovereign  fashion,  and  adapts  them  to  his  theories 
of  Providence.     His  omissions,  e.g.,  are  very  signi- 
ficant.    He  has  nothing  to  say  of  David's  adultery, 
nor  of  Solomon's  idolatry,  nor  of  the  intrigues  by 
which  he  succeeded  to  the  throne,  nor  of  the  tribute 
of    silver    and    gold    which    Hezekiah    paid    Sen- 
naccherib  (2  Kings  xviii.  14-16).     It  may  be  urged 
in  extenuation  of  his  silence  that  his   public   were 
already  familiar  with  these  stories  in  the  books  of 
Samuel  and  Kings  ;  but  he  repeats  so  many  sections 
from  these    books  word    for  word  that  his  failure 
to  repeat  the  sections   which  militate  against  his 
heroes  can  only  be  regarded  as  part  of  a  deliberate 
policy.     Especially  must  this  be  maintained  in  the 


Chronicle 


351 


light  of  his  numerous  modifications  or  contradic- 
tions of  his  sources.  David's  sons,  he  tells  us,  were 
chief  about  the  king  (1  Chron.  xviii.  17) ;  he  cannot 
allow  that  they  were  priests,  as  2  Sam.  viii.  18  says 
they  were.  Nor  can  he  allow  that  Solomon  offered 
his  dedicatory  prayer  before  the  altar  (1  Kings  viii. 
22) — that  was  the  place  for  the  priest — so  he  erects 
for  him  a  special  platform  in  the  midst  of  the  court, 
from  which  he  addresses  the  people  (2  Chron.  vi. 
13). 

The  motive  of  these  changes  is  obviously  respect 
for  the  priestly  law.  Sometimes  the  motive  is  to 
glorify  his  heroes  or  to  magnify  their  enthusiasm  or 
devotion.  Where,  e.g.  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  24  David 
pays  Araunah  fifty  shekels  of  silver  for  the  ground 
on  which  the  temple  was  afterwards  built,  in  1  Chron. 
xxi.  25  he  pays  600  shekels  of  gold.  Similarly, 
in  1  Kings  ix.  n  Solomon  gives  Hiram  certain  cities 
in  return  for  a  loan  ;  in  2  Chron.  viii.  2  it  is  Hiram 
who  gives  Solomon  the  cities.  David  accumulates 
100,000  talents  of  gold  and  1,000,000  of  silver  for 
the  building  of  the  temple  (1  Chron.  xxii.) — a 
fabulous  and  impossible  sum  when  we  remember 
that  Solomon  himself  had  only  666  talents  of  gold 
yearly  (1  Kings  x.  14).  In  2  Sam.  xxi.  19  Elhanan 
is  the  hero  who  slays  Goliath  ;  the  Chronicler  sees 
that  this  conflicts  with  the  romantic  story  of  David 
(1  Sam.  xvii.)  and  threfore  makes  Elhanan  slay  the 
brother  of  Goliath  (1  Chron.  xx.  5).  In  2  Kings 
xxii.,  xxiii.,  the  reformation  of  Josiah  follows  very 
naturally  upon  the  finding  of  the  law  in  the  eigh- 
teenth year  of  the  king,  but  the  Chronicler  represents 
the  reformation  as  taking  place  in  his  twelfth  year, 


352   Old  Testament  Introduction 

i.e.  as  soon  as  he  came  of  age  (2  Chron.  xxxiv.  3). 
He  still,  however,  dates  the  finding  of  the  law  in  his 
eighteenth  year  (cf.  8),  i.e.  six  years  after  the  reforma- 
tion, and  thus  throws  the  history  into  an  impossible 
sequence,  apparently  for  no  other  object  than  to 
illustrate  the  youthful  devotion  of  his  hero-king. 
He  is  not  even  always  consistent  with  himself  ; 
following  Kings  (1  Kings  xv.  14,  xxii.  43)  he  says 
that  Asa  and  Jehoshaphat  did  not  remove  the  high 
places  (2  Chron.  xv.  17,  xx.  33),  and  yet  he  had  just 
before  told  us  that  they  did  (2  Chron,  xiv.  5,  xvii.  6) 
as,  on  his  theory,  being  good  kings,  they  should. 
The  motive  for  the  change  is  usually  obvious.  In 
2  Sam.  xxiv.  1  Jehovah  had  tempted  David  to 
number  the  people.  This  is  intolerable  to  the 
more  advanced  theology  of  the  Chronicler,  so  he 
ascribes  the  impulse  to  Satan  (1  Chron.  xxi.  1).  A 
similar  transformation  may  be  seen  ir  his  notice  of 
the  doom  of  Saul.  In  1  Sam.  xxviii.  6  it  is  im- 
plicitly said  that  Saul  earnestly  sought  to  discover 
the  divine  will  ;  in  1  Chron.  x.  14  this  is  roundly 
denied — he  did  not  inquire  of  Jehovah. 

These  and  similar  transformations,  amounting 
sometimes  to  contradictions  of  the  original  sources, 
are  due  to  a  religious  motive,  and  they  appear  to 
be  made  in  perfectly  good  faith.  The  Chronicler 
is  a  religious  man  who,  unlike  Job,  finds  no  per- 
plexities in  the  moral  world,  but  everywhere  a  pre- 
cise and  mechanical  correspondence  between  char- 
acter and  destiny.  Not  only  is  piety  rewarded  by 
prosperity,  but  prosperity  presupposes  piety.  The 
most  pious  kings  have  the  most  soldiers.  David 
has  over  a  million  and  a  half,  Jehoshaphat  over  a 


Chronicles  353 

million,  while  Rehoboam  has  only  180,000. 
Manasseh's  long  reign  of  fifty-five  years— a  stumb- 
ling-block, on  the  Chronicler's  theory— has  to  be 
explained  by  his  repentance  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  nff.). 
Religious  explanations  are  everywhere  assigned  for 
facts.  Josiah's  defeat  and  death  are  the  penalty 
of  his  disobedience  to  the  word  of  God  which  came 
to  him  through  the  Egyptian  king  (2  Chron.  xxxv. 
2 iff.).  So  Uzziah's  leprosy  is  the  divine  punish- 
ment of  his  pride  in  presuming  to  offer  incense 
despite  the  protests  of  the  priests  (2  Chron.  xxvi. 
i6ff.).  The  Chronicler  sees  the  hand  of  God  in 
everything ;  He  is  the  immediate  arbiter  of  all 
human  destiny.  That  is  why  rewards  and  punish- 
ments are  so  swift  and  just  and  sure.  The  divine 
control  of  human  affairs  is  most  conspicuously  seen 
in  the  Chronicler's  account  of  battles,  where  the 
human  warriors  count  for  nothing.  God  fights  or 
causes  a  panic  among  the  enemy  ;  the  warriors  do 
little  more  than  shout  and  pursue  (2  Chron.  xiii.  15, 
xx.).  The  battle-scenes  show  how  little  imagination 
the  Chronicler  possessed ;  clearly  he  had  never  seen 
a  battle,  and  he  has  no  conception  of  one  (cf.  Num. 
xxxi.).  He  thinks  nothing  of  describing  a  con- 
flict between  400,000  Judeans  and  800,000  Israelites, 
in  which  half  a  million  of  the  latter  were  slain 
(2  Chron.  xiii.).  It  is  all  so  different  from  the 
stirring  and  life-like  tales  of  the  Judges  or  the 
Maccabees. 

In  the  face  of  these  historical  improbabilities, 
what  are  we  to  make  of  the  Chronicler's  continual 
appeal  to  his  sources  ?  These  are  ostensibly  of  two 
kinds  :   (a)  historical,   (b)  prophetical,     {a)  He  fre- 


354   Old  Testament  Introduction 

quently  refers  to  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel 
and  Judah,  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and 
Israel,  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  and  the  his- 
tory of  the  kings  of  Israel.  No  doubt  one  book  is 
cited  under  these  different  titles.  The  history  of 
Manasseh,  e.g.,  is  said  to  be  recorded  in  the  history  of 
the  kings  of  Israel  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  18)  ;  clearly 
this  cannot  be  northern  Israel,  as  Manasseh  was  a 
king  of  Judah.  What,  then,  was  this  book  of  the 
kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  ?  At  first  we  are  strongly 
tempted  to  regard  it  as  our  canonical  book  of  Kings. 
That  book  was  already  over  two  centuries  in  exist- 
ence and  must  have  been  familiar  ;  not  only  are 
whole  sections  copied  from  it  by  the  Chronicler 
verbatim,  but  occasionally  passages  which  he 
adopts  presuppose  other  passages  which  he  has 
omitted  ;  e.g.  he  follows  2  Sam.  v.  13  in  asserting 
that  David  took  more  wives  (1  Chron.  xiv.  3),  though 
the  word  "  more  "  has  no  meaning  in  his  context ; 
in  his  source  it  points  naturally  enough  back  to 
2  Sam.  hi.  2-5.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  then,  that 
the  canonical  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  consti- 
tuted one  of  his  sources. 

Yet  it  is  almost  equally  certain  that  that  is  not 
the  book  to  which  he  continually  refers  his  readers. 
The  "  book  of  Jehu,"  which  recorded  the  history  of 
Jehoshaphat,  is  said  to  be  incorporated  in  the  book 
of  the  Kings  of  Israel  (2  Chron.  xx.  34) ;  it  is  not, 
however,  in  our  canonical  Kings.  Neither  is  the 
prayer  of  Manasseh  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  18),  nor  are 
the  genealogies  referred  to  in  1  Chron.  ix.  1.  Again, 
for  further  information  about  Jotham  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah 


Chronicles  355 

(2  Chron.  xxvii.  7),  when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
Chronicler  has  more  to  tell  about  him  than  our  book 
of  Kings  (2  Kings  xv.  32-38).  Clearly,  then,  the 
book  so  frequently  cited  is  not  the  canonical  book 
of  Kings.  What  sort  of  production  it  was  may  be 
inferred  from  the  reference  in  2  Chron.  xxiv.  27  to 
the  "  midrash  of  the  book  of  the  Kings."  Doubtless 
the  book  in  question  was  a  midrash,  i.e.  an  edifying 
commentary  on  the  history,  of  the  sort  preserved  in 
the  very  late  story  of  1  Kings  xiii.  The  tendency 
towards  midrash,  which  so  powerfully  affected  the 
later  Jewish  mind,  appears  as  early  as  the  stories 
of  Elisha. 

(b)  Prophetic  sources  are  also  frequently  cited 
or  alluded  to,  e.g.  the  books  of  Samuel,  Nathan, 
Gad  (1  Chron.  xxix.  29),  the  prophecy  of  Ahijah, 
the  book  of  Shemaiah,  the  book  of  Iddo  (2  Chron, 
xii.  15),  the'vision  of  Isaiah  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  32), 
etc.  Probably,  however,  these  were  not  indepen- 
dent prophetic  works.  The  reference  to  the  "  mid- 
rash of  the  prophet  Iddo  "  (2  Chron.  xiii.  22)  suggests 
that  these  works,  like  the  history  of  the  kings,  were 
midrashic ;  in  all  probability  they  were  simply 
extracts  from  the  midrashic  book  of  Kings  already 
alluded  to.  Practically  all  the  prophets  to  whom 
books  are  ascribed  in  Chronicles  are  mentioned  in 
the  canonical  books,  and  probably  they  were  re- 
garded as  the  authors  of  the  sections  in  which  their 
names  occur,  so  that  the  books  of  Samuel,  Nathan 
and  Gad  would  be  none  other  than  the  relevant 
portions  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  or  of  the  midrash  of 
these  books.  Thus  the  Chronicler's  imposing  array 
of  citations  may  be  without  injustice  reduced  to 


356   Old  Testament   Introduction 

two  books — the  canonical  book  of  Kings  (or  Genesis 
to  Kings)  and  the  midrash  to  those  books. 

These  facts  have  led  many  to  deny  all  value 
whatever  to  the  Chronicler's  unsupported  state- 
ments. But  such  a  condemnation  is  too  sweeping. 
The  genealogies  in  1  Chron.  i.-ix.,  though  they  no 
doubt  received  many  later  additions,  probably  rest 
on  good  sources,  and  there  are  other  notices  bearing, 
e.g.,  on  the  fortifications  of  Rehoboam  (2  Chron.  xi.), 
Jotham  (2  Chron.  xxvii.),  etc.,  on  Uzziah's  enter- 
prise in  peace  and  war  (2  Chron.  xxvi.  5-15),  on 
Judah's  border  warfare  (2  Chron.  xvii.  n,  xxi.  16, 
xxvi.  7,  xxviii.  I7f.),  etc.,  which  do  not  display  the 
Chronicler's  characteristic  tendencies  and  appear 
to  be  authentic.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  his- 
torical value  of  Chronicles  must  be  rated  low.  Nor 
is  its  religious  value  high.  Its  attitude  to  the  prob- 
lems raised  by  the  moral  order  is  exceedingly 
mechanical,  and  with  one  noble  exception  (2  Chron. 
xxx.  18,  19),  its  general  conception  of  religion  is 
ritualistic.  But  it  is  a  valuable  monument  of  the 
Judaism  of  the  third  century  B.C.,  and  we  learn 
from  it  to  appreciate  the  daring  independence  of 
such  books  as  Job  and  Ecclesiastes. 


Butler  and  Tanner,  The  Selwood  Printing  Works,  Frome,  and  London 


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